Moonlit Lives
by Suns Of Sin
Summary: It is Kagome who has betrayed Inuyasha, forced by her destiny. In shame, she leaves him with no memory of her. Sesshoumaru becomes her savior, and with him she becomes what she has always been. But trials face them, and somehow they must unite their clans
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not, by any means, own the series Inuyasha, nor do I own any of the movies, in both senses. sniffle

Moonlit Lives

Prologue

Kagome stared out at the vast expanse of charred and disfigured land, marred by dead bodies and blood. In the center of it all, four carved blocks rose above the unburied.

The first depicted a crescent moon, and two flames shooting out into different directions. In kanji characters, an inscription read:

_Silent warmth and compassion_

_with great honor and bravery_

_makes the greatest warrior_

_Kirara of the Demon Slayer tribe_

_Loyal companion and ally_

The second stone had a metallic mask hanging on it, with Hiraikotsu laying in front of it. It read:

_A courageous heart coupled_

_with a sorrowful soul_

_makes the greatest friend_

_Sango of the Demon Slayer tribe_

_Loving sister and friend_

The third, draped with prayer beads, with the golden monk staff laying in front, read:

_A man who appreciates a woman_

_and prays for her fallen brother_

_makes the best of men_

_Miroku, sacred monk_

_Loving and supporting brother _

The last. Kagome wiped a silent tear from her cheek. She felt the wind play with her hair as it blew sluggishly around her. A forget-me-not blue ribbon was tied lovingly around the stone, and a flame had been carved into its granite surface. It read:

_A lively spirit that lifts the lowest of hearts_

_and bright eyes earnest to please_

_makes the wonderful son_

_Shippou, of the fox Demon tribe_

_beloved pup and fighting soul_

Kagome turned away from the graves, her fingers cut and muddy. As she proceeded to walk away from them, longing for her friends burned in her heart. However, she continued her trek, knowing that if she turned back, all that had been sacrificed would be in vain. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she prepared herself, steeling her heart.

Because what had been preordained since her very birth would take place in a mere few hours, and she could do nothing but what she was destined to.

Betrayal. Twisted and vengeful, it squirms and wriggles like a muddy worm inside the intestines of a dead carcass. It eats away at the heart, until there is nothing there but cold and desolate emptiness. It is a quiet, secretive killer with the worst of effects, and it rejoices in it's destruction.

It wasn't supposed to be like this; they were going to be happy, with children and live together and never have to worry about Naraku or any other foe. However, her thoughts had been naive enough back then to believe such things. That she would not have to betray him, that she would find away around it.

Those thoughts were long gone, for the truth had shed it's beautiful mask of lies and goodness and had reared it's ugly, misshaped head, mocking her for her idiocy. She now knew the truth, and hated it and it's deformed body and it's knowledge of everything and anything. But she could not forsake it as she would her love and life.

And so she would betray the only man she had ever loved, for that was her twisted destiny.

And so the muddy worm set to work.

A/N: So? How was it? Feed back would be nice. Okay, her's out it's going down. I need five reviews before I put up the next chapter, and then I won't need any more for the rest of the story, I just need a bit of motivation. However, reviews are appreciated when a writer is having serious brain fart... so... please review even if it's a flame.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: You just like rubbing it in my face, don't you? I don't own any of them! NONE!

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 1

Kagome's shrouded form stood quietly in the bushes, away from sight of the two people standing next to the goshinboku. She watched with a hope in her heart. It was a selfish and evil hope, but she gave all of herself into that hope. She watched silently as the scene unfolded before her.

Kikyou walked simperingly over to Inuyasha, whose eyes were glazed over, clouded. "Inuyasha." She whispered, grazing a soft finger around his tanned jaw. "Forget my silly incarnation. She is nothing but a copy, Inuyasha. She is a child." Kikyou's body came closer to Inuyasha's, and his eyes followed her every move.

He said nothing in return, merely enjoying the soft caresses, though confusion wrought heavily upon him.

She put her lips close to his dog ear. "Come with me, Inuyasha, and we can be together forever. Forget her." She slowly put the clay lips to his ear, kissing it.

Inuyasha suddenly twirled around and pushed Kikyou against him, and she let a small smirk grace her lips. Kagome held her breath, still hoping beyond hope. His body language suggested that he had chosen Kikyou, though his eyes were confused and clouded.

"I cannot." Inuyasha let go of a stunned clay miko, turning from her and walking, his head low, away.

Kagome's eyes became awash with tears as her heart fell.

"You can't do this to me, Inuyasha! Forget her, dammit! She is nothing compared to me!" Kikyou tried to run after him, but he ignored her.

Kagome let out a small sigh and whispered, "Forget me." however, he did not turn around, and he showed no regret of his choice, and Kagome's heart shattered. Tears streamed down her porcelain face as Kikyou and he parted ways, one in resolution and the other in disgust. When they were both gone, she came from behind the shrouded area, and kneeled before the goshinboku. "Forgive me, Inuyasha, please forgive me." She stayed there for an hour, crying silently into her hands.

Kagome trudged slowly to the camp site. It was tonight, she knew. A full moon that outshone all the stars glowed heavily above her head, beginning its rise to midnight. It was just her and Inuyasha now, she knew, and soon she would be leaving Inuyasha by himself. He would have no one to comfort him, no one to tell him that it was alright, no one to love him for himself. However, she had made herself a promise. "You will forget me, Inuyasha. And Kikyou will be your only love once again." A few minutes later, she was at the campsite, and Inuyasha was sitting desolately alone. When she came into the site, he looked up, and her heart broke a million times over.

This was not the loud and brash Inuyasha that yelled at her all the time and protected her with his life and growled when other men looked at her. This was a sad and quiet Inuyasha, who was glad to see that she hadn't been hurt and who needed her more than he needed his pride. He stood and walked over to her stock still frame. Stopping in front of her to stare at her for a second, and enveloped her in a tight hug, and for the first time, Kagome felt his shoulders shaked and the wetness on her hair that was his tears.

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, letting her own tears fall. She rubbed his back comfortingly and kissed his shoulder. She knew that he would not remember this in the morning, and knew that she was taking advantage of that fact, but she also knew that she needed this as much as he did. "It's all going to be okay, Inuyasha." She whispered, hoping to Kami that she was right.

Inuyasha sat down with her still in his arms. "Are you sure, Kagome?" He sounded so lost and hopeless. Kagome told him that she was, even though she knew it to be a lie. They stayed like that for a while, and then Inuyasha's helpless voice sounded again. "Kagome?"

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"You know I never meant any of those mean things I said to you, right?"

Kagome held back her tears. "Yes, Inuyasha. I know."

"And you know that I will always protect you, right?"

Once again, Kagome said yes, and tried very hard to keep from crying.

"Kagome, please face me." Kagome hadn't been able to hold a few swelling tears, and as Inuyasha lifted and propped her to face him, she turned her face away. He grasped her chin with his claws and gently turned her toward him. "Please don't cry, Kagome. I always hate it when you cry." he whispered as he wiped away her tears, as more of them came. "Stop." He said helplessly, finally resorting to kissing the tears away.

Kagome dipped her head and said sadly, "I don't deserve you, Inuyasha. Please don't do that. I don't deserve it." She kept saying it, pushing him away as he watched her helplessly. "I'm a wretched person, Inuyasha. I don't deserve you." Finally, she ripped herself from his grasp and crawled over to her sleeping bag, stained and ripped as it was.

However, Inuyasha was relentless and came over to where she cowered, gathering up her, sleeping bag and all, and jumped into the tree he was going to sleep in. "Don't say that, Kagome. Please don't say that." His voice became desperate. "I don't know what I'd do without you. All of our friends are gone, and we only have each other now. I can't stand to see you suffer so much."

Kagome began to sob, hating herself for having to do this, hating the damned god whose idea it was to play with her life so much. However, she only had a few hours left with him, and she knew that she had to make the best out of it. She steeled herself, preparing to face him.

She uncovered herself, looking up at him with bright brown eyes, piercing him wiyh her gaze. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha." She looked down and then back up again. If she only had a small bit of time with him, she was going to make it count. And she did. Enough said. Some would have said it was selfish of her to do so, but he needed it, and so did she, and it was a mutual thing.

She fell asleep in his arms, warm and safe and at peace for the first time in five years.

And then she woke up. And it was time. Tears came unbidden down her face as she climbed from his grasp and changed into her miko garb. Silently, she took the glowing jewel from around her neck, staring at it with sadness.

Suddenly, the prose which she knew she was to recite came to her mind, as they said it would. She stared one last time as the peacefully sleeping hanyou which owned her heart, and then the words flowed from her lips, broken by sobs.

"She who died and was brought back

to the living world as half

must have her life in full this time

and have her soul as well as mine

He whose love is split between

two promises he cannot keep

must forget I, be with the first

must never know, and never search"

At this time, Inuyasha awoke and sat up, seeing Kagome's face, tears streaking down her face, with the Shikon jewel in her hands. "Kagome! NO!"

"Forgive me, Inuyasha." she stared at him with a deep amount of regret and sadness in her eyes. "I will always love you, Inuyasha." And then he saw nothing but a bright pink light flooding his vision.

Inuyasha awoke with a headache and sat up slowly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could have sworn he saw a female demon staring sadly at him before jumping off into the bushes. However, he couldn't be sure. So he forgot the strange woman, as he was slightly beguiled as to the reason for his current state of undress.

Kagome's heart wrenched as she flitted away from Inuyasha, whose life was free of her, as was his mind. They said that they would come for her, that when she had fulfilled her destiny, she would be retrieved and be reunited with her family once more. Thoughts of her mother and father ran through her head, also accompanied by memories of her older brother, Kura, which flitted openly through images of her childhood.

It had all been a hoax, made up by fate to make an otherwise dull story absolutely unbelievable. She missed her human family in the future, of course, but they had only been pawns in the great plan, as she was, as Inuyasha was. Now it was time to return to her true family and take up her place as the rightful Taikijo of the wolf clan of the North.

Her musings on the run, however, were cut short when a solid block of flesh seemed to plant itself directly in front of her. She looked up, hoping to god it wasn't who she thought it was.

He smelled like Amber Myrrh and clean wind, and the image standing in front of her very closely resembled that scent.

Sesshoumaru stood before her, tall and imposing. This single demon had been held witness to the destructionof The evil Naraku, been there to catch Kagome as she fell to the ground, carried both she and Inuyasha back to camp and tended her wounds when she could not heal herself. He alone had felt her wretched pain as her comrades were struck down one by one, and he alone had comforted her in her time of need when Inuyasha was unconscious and the entire village feared her for their own reasons.

She smiled at him smally, feeling small fangs poke at her lips. "Hello, Sesshoumaru Sama."

The great Lord sesshoumaru studied the young Demoness before him, his face unchanging. This woman was youkai royalty. On her forehead was a blue and black, eight pointed star. Her eyes were bright, clear blue, accentuated by an elegant line of silver running out past the corner of her outer eye to curve upward, and an ever-thinner blue strip, running slightly past the inner eyes. Strips of blue graced her cheeks, underlined thinly with silver, and black stripes adorned the upper part of her tipped ears. He studied her claws, black, with silver tips. Her hair was long and raven-like, with a bluish tint, the silky strands framing an ivory face.

She was undoubtably changed, but but Sesshoumaru would never mistake her scent, wild jasmine and vanilla sugar, accompanied by a whirlwind of rain. Every time he was around her, it was as if he was in a scented bath, relaxing away his built up tension. There was no mistaking that scent. This was most definitely Kagome.

He almost smiled.

He nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "Kagome. So it is done."

"Yes, It's done."

"I suppose he was not all that happy with it. No matter, I must talk to him, where is he?"

She looked away, tears brimming in her eyes.

He knew well of what Kagome had had to do, and her love for the hanyou, and how betraying him in such a way had crushed her heart. "I... I'm sorry." He finally told her. She looked up at him, then threw herself into his body, weeping.

Carefully, Sesshoumaru put his arm about Kagome.

"How could I do such a thing, Sesshoumaru?" She asked, not expecting an answer. Though she was surprised that he would even set himself within twenty feet of her, she had seen weirder things come from him, and she had come to appreciate his softer side when it decided to show itself. So she was only half surprised when he graced her with his ultimate wisdom.

"It was your destiny, and destiny must not be tampered with."

She suddenly just wanted to be somewhere, where she would be accepted and not scorned or judged, appreciated for what she was. "Sesshoumaru, take me with you." She said pleadingly.

"Hn?" he looked down at her with skepticism.

"When you go home, would you please take me?"

"Why? Do you not want to be with the humans and Inuyasha?"

"Sesshoumaru, look at me." She stepped away from him, forcing him to look at her demonic, ever beautiful body. "I have no place in the village." She paused, then looked up at him with dry but sad eyes. "I have no place with Inuyasha, either."

Something within Sesshoumaru jumped for joy with this statement. "And why, may I ask, not?" He would not give into these menial fantasies.

"Because he does not know who I am." She said quietly, looking away and rubbing her arm. "It was part of my wish. So he wouldn't have to miss me."

Sesshoumaru gave her a weird look.

"I know that sounds like self praising, but he chose me, Sesshoumaru. He rejected Kikyou for me!" She cried, tears streaming once again. "I had hoped with everything I had that he would choose her, so I wouldn't have to make him hurt so much, so I would have a reason to betray him!" she dropped to her knees before the great lord. "But he didn't, Sesshoumaru. He chose me, and I had to betray him."

"So you wished that he lose his memory of you." He stared hard at her. "Your intentions were honorable, but you realize what you have done."

"What?" She looked at him, a feeling of heaviness weighing her heart once again.

"In erasing yourself from his memory, you have also erased any lesson taught or battle fought because of you in his head. He is now not aware that he has tetsusaiga, nor how he is released from that arrow. He is oblivious to the fact that he has ever truly loved anyone. You have had an incredible amount of influence on the person he was, and now he is the same as he was fifty-five years ago, give or take a few attitude problems."

"But, doesn't he remember the others?"

"I'm afraid not. He only met them because of you. In his mind, he has been traveling the world alone. At least, that is my guess."

Kagome's eyes were suddenly wide with pain and terror. Blood started to gurgle in her throat as the sudden rush of pain to her spine shook her body. Claws plunged deep in her back, rupturing the backbone. She screamed in terrible pain, and even as Sesshoumaru rushed to relieve her, power began to build in her body.

Sesshoumaru paused in his attack, seeing Kagome's eyes turn aqua-marine in color. The star on her forehead glowed faintly, and then Inuyasha's hands were ripped from her spine and he was thrown against a nearby tree, held there by some unknown force.

Kagome rose, and Inuyasha's eyes widened, seeing that the injury had healed, her spine realigned and the skin already mending.

Kagome, however, was not concentrating on that fact. She did not turn around to see who it was that had attacked her, the look Sesshoumaru (who had not witnessed the healing of her spine) gave her said all.

"It's him, isn't it." She whimpered. When Sesshoumaru merely nodded, Kagome looked down, crying. She ran towards Sesshoumaru, whispering in his ear sullenly, "I'll wait for you. Please... he didn't know." And then she was gone, leaving a struggling Inuyasha and slightly disgruntled Sesshoumaru.

"What is the meaning of this, little brother?" the great lord asked scornfully, enjoying the sight of Inuyasha held helpless.

The young Hanyou's eyes flashed dangerously. "You!" he tried to break free of the never relenting magic. "You and that bitch are plotting to kill me!"

"Who gave you such an idiotic idea?" Sesshoumaru stepped forward menacingly.

"Kikyou! She told me about you and that Kagome woman!" he spat Kagome's name, as if it was poison. "How you and she were conspiring for the shikon jewel."

Sesshoumaru could hear Kagome weeping, smell her tears. Her bindings were weakening. He needed to end this quickly. "You are an imbecile, Inuyasha. This Sesshoumaru has no time for your ranting."

"Tell that fucking bitch to unbind me!"

"No." And with that, Sesshoumaru left Inuyasha screaming a choice line of curses after him, though paid no mind to them. This seemed to make the hanyou scream even louder. Sesshoumaru smirked in his triumph, small and feeble as it was.

"Kagome." Sesshoumaru could feel her sadness resonating from her in waves as he grew closer to her. Suddenly, arms were wrapped tightly about him and a face was buried deep in his haori.

"Sesshoumaru, it's all my fault. It's was my wish that made him like this!"

"No, you merely have set him back to what he is without you. There is no turning back on this journey, Kagome. You must fulfill what you are destined to do." Kagome was amazed at this lord's total eloquence, and suddenly felt very at peace with her wish.

"Does this mean that I may come with you, Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru stared down at the vixen demoness that had plopped herself down into his life. "I suppose."

Kagome smiled in gratitude, letting go of him in sudden shame. She then bowed low to him, and it was now that he noticed how ripped and inappropriate her matter of dress was. Sighing lightly, he gathered his youkai cloud, and in the light of the afternoon sun, two figures were seen flying across the cloudless sky, comfortable in their intertwining destinies.

A/N: So? You like? I do appreciate reviews, but it's your choice. Bye bye, minna-San!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: You people really know how to bring a girl down. . .

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 2

The castle was large and looming, with every wall decorated in some way, and every hall not without a secret passageway to make a trip across the estate a bit faster. There was a spacious courtyard planted in the center, and underground were a series of small, private hotsprings that Kagome didn't learn about until bathing time. There was a garden as well, above ground, in the back part of his incredibly large, kingdom-like, castle, as well as an underground garden, filled with dark and beautiful things that grew and prospered only in the darkness.

In the large, open garden above ground, there was a river. In some places where the flowers grew, the water ran shallow and sluggishly, while in other areas, where it ran through irrigation ditches, two or three feet across, it's surface level rose, running a bit faster. The vast garden had various plants and flowers growing, mingling together when it was possible. Depending on the needs of a certain flower, it was stationed in a specific place near the river, or far from it, as the case may be.

And then there was the area that Kagome loved most.

She had discovered it on her first day out of the castle, which Sesshoumaru had made her memorize by heart, taking almost two weeks. Here, in the back of the garden, grew large sakura trees, a sort of orchard. There were maybe fifty of the trees, placed in a sort of chaotic order. The brook seemed to wind in and out of the trees, somehow managing to pass each tree once. The water was clear and shallow, revealing the water life beneath the surface. Kagome had wandered around this place for hours, finally finding a spot where she sat. In the very back of the orchard of Sakura trees, she had stumbled upon a secluded sight, a small, clear lake with a small, poignant waterfall rising two, maybe three feet above the lake, feeding from the stream. Almost as if it had been planned, a sakura tree stood off to the right of the stream, it's trunk split into an almost perfect seat. The lake's bottom had deepened to a six foot depth, the entire floor made from a white/golden stone.

Kagome sat within the split trunk of the Sakura tree beside the lake, thinking of the last few days. Two weeks had passed, and there had been no sign of anyone coming to retrieve her. They had promised that once her destiny was fulfilled, then she would be reunited with her family and take her place among them. However, though she was certain that she had done all that was expected of her, there had been no clue as to what was to happen now that she was abandoned by unknown fellow pawns.

No news was good news, right?

Kagome put it from her mind, as she had been doing a lot. She looked darkly at the water in front of her, envying it for it's endless serenity, it's ability to just _be_. She wanted to be the water, wanted to be on her own, slow schedule. She wanted nothing more than to have no worries, no one to please. She sighed, and then, on an incredibly instantaneous impulse, and jumped up and in to the water. The simple blue kimono around her lithe frame sagged, heavy, and she untied the obi, allowing the cloth to float to the floor of the small lake. Naked and pleasantly cooled by the water, Kagome smiled a little bit, barely a ghost of a smile.

She rolled her head back, floating on her back, and she remembered the famous American novel she had read, _Their Eyes Were Watching God_. She studied the sky, scattered with white clouds. Briefly, she wondered what the date was, but knew that it didn't matter. The clouds moved sluggishly toward an unknown destination, and like she had wished to be the water, Kagome wished to be a cloud, never hurried, at it's own pace.

Thoughts of Inuyasha and the others ran rampant through her head, but she didn't cry. Instead, she pushed the thoughts back, knowing that she would not be able to handle them quite yet. All she could do was to try to forget, because that was the only chance she had for happiness.

'_Sesshoumaru.' _she thought, almost smiling. He was approaching, and was very close.

"Kagome." He said, knowing that he had been sensed. He stepped from the tree's, greeted by Kagome's naked body floating lithely in the water. He harnessed his carnal instincts to take her, and sat down, still staring at her.

She had been watching him, watching him watch her, and now she turned from him, suddenly shy and embarrassed. "Sesshoumaru, you lecher." She said to him, only because she was not sure what else to say. He said nothing in return, and when she peeked over her shoulder at him, he was still staring at her. She looked briefly down at her kimono at the bottom of the lake with utter loathing.

However, she was not going to expose herself freely to a carnal and lecherous animal whose only thought was mating when the youkai had taken over. And so, with as much dignity as she could muster, she drew in a large and overstated breath, then dived into the clear waters, deeper, deeper, until she had reached her clothes. They were heavy and hard to put on under water, but Kagome managed to make herself decent. When she arrived back up to the surface, Sesshoumaru was gone, but his haori remained.

Kagome smiled despite herself, incredibly grateful to Sesshoumaru at that moment. She slipped the haori over her sopping wet kimono, smelling Sesshoumaru's scent all over it. Carefully, she looked around for anyone that might see her, then took a deep breath, taking in the wonderful smell. Her eyes were closed and her shoulders raised to her chin, and she was smiling, though she didn't know it.

From up in a tree, Sesshoumaru watched the interaction between Kagome and his haori, secretly envying it for the attention it was receiving.

Kagome spotted Rin playing among the flowers, completely oblivious to the demoness slowly stalking up upon her.

And then it was too late, and Kagome was upon her, smothering the girl with her wetness as Rin Laughed out openly at the surprise. "Kagome-neechan!" she squealed happily, not minding that she herself had become wet. Kagome was laughing openly as she tickled a squirming Rin. She giggled, bursting out in squeals when Kagome hit a sweet spot.

Sesshoumaru, who had caught sight of them a little earlier on, found himself walking quietly towards the two, a smile tugging furiously at his lips. When he stopped, it took a moment for the giggling two to notice him.

"You two are going to get colds."

Kagome looked up first, the smile fading from her face momentarily before reappearing. Rin saw him next jumping up in front of him to bow. "Rin is sorry she is wet, Sesshoumaru-sama. Please forgive Rin?" She said softly.

However, before Sesshoumaru could respond to her plead, Kagome's voice sounded out. "Don't apologize for having fun, Rin. If it's anyone's fault that your wet, it's mine." She smiled gently at the girl who stared up at her with wonderment. She then turned to Sesshoumaru, serious. "I am sorry that Rin and I have ruined our clothes. I will bring her back to her chambers so that she may change and then return to my own so that I may as well." She bowed, surprising Sesshoumaru with her civility.

He had expected some sort of outburst about one thing or another, knowing her from his few visits to her and his half brother's camp. He was half disappointed, but soon it was erased when she turned around on her way back to the castle. "Oh, and we're going to have to have a little talk about this, Sesshoumaru-_sama_." She said, then turned back with Rin holding her hand, and continued her walk, dripping wet and hardly dignified. However, Sesshoumaru knew that those innocent words held a great chastisement for him in the future. Though valuable soldiers had died for less, he knew that somehow, he was going to be put in his place later. And somehow, that didn't bother him at all.

Kagome had wanted to cry at the incredible amount of submission and meekness that Rin had addressed Sesshoumaru with. It was as if the girl was truly scared of being banished from him if she messed up. Kagome did not know what had instilled this fear in Rin, but she was convinced to resolve it. As she walked with Rin, hand in hand, she decided to strike up conversation with the unusually bright girl.

"Rin-chan, what is wrong?" She asked, noticing that Rin had become quiet.

Rin paused a moment, as if thinking about the answer. Kagome waited patiently. Finally, she looked up with a pair of eyes that swirled with fright and anxiety. "Rin is scared that Sesshoumaru-sama might not want Rin anymore!" She cried, suddenly desperate. "Rin has never gotten wet out of bath before, and Rin is scared that she might be not allowed to be with Sesshoumaru any more! And now Rin is scared that Kagome-neechan might be not allowed to be with Sesshoumaru-sama any longer either. Rin is sorry, Kagome-neechan!" She suddenly threw herself at Kagome's chest, who was now kneeling next to the anxious girl. Rin buried her face in Kagome's neck, wailing desperately, saying sorry over and over again.

Kagome patted the young girl's back softly, murmuring complacent things in Rin's ears to sooth her. "It's alright, Rin-chan. Sesshoumaru-sama is not angry with us. He cares for you too much to throw you from his care."

Rin looked up with watery eyes, now shimmering with a bit of hope. "Really?" She asked in a small voice.

"Really."

Rin's tears vanished and she smiled brilliantly. "Sesshoumaru-sama isn't angry with Rin!" She cried in happiness, hugging Kagome. However, she refused to let go of Kagome's neck, and the demoness ended up carrying the girl to her room. Rin looked up at her mischievously. "Rin told you Sesshoumaru-sama wasn't angry. What on earth could have given you that idea?" She said coyly.

Kagome laughed openly, happy that Rin had recovered so easily. Rin laughed as well, merrily and carefree as a child should be. When Kagome reached Rin's room, She found a demoness waiting patiently at the door. She was staring at Kagome curiously, her crimson eyes narrowed, calculating. Those eyes reminded her briefly of Kagura and Kanna, the two who had mysteriously disappeared after the defeat of Naraku. However, This kijo's hair was a deep purple, cut short around her ears to frame an impish, pale face.

"Lady Kagome, I presume." She addressed Kagome, Bowing low before her. She then looked up and said. "I am Rin's personal handmaiden, Rio. I will make sure that she is decent." She told Kagome, stretching out her hands to take Rin From Kagome's arms. The young demoness relented easily and gave Rin over to Rio. Rin waved hello to the other woman and goodbye to Kagome before turning towards Rio's chest and playing with the golden necklace dangling about the woman's neck.

Smiling in thanks, Kagome thanked Rio and turned to find her way back to her own room. Though she was not dripping anymore, she was getting a chill from being wet.

Kagome headed back to her chambers, soaked and shivering in the cool air of the palace. She had just turned the corner of a hallway when a high pitched squeal made her start. She turned to her right, seeing a young fox demoness hurry toward her. The girl had bright green eyes and fiery, short red hair tied back by a forget-me-not blue ribbon. Shippou's face flashed before her eyes as she saw her young, personal servant, Kaji.

"Kagome-sama! You're soaked! Why are you wandering around like this in Sesshoumaru-sama's halls? You'll catch a chill! Here, I'll take you back to you chambers to change." She said, as if talking to a child. However, Kagome didn't care at this point and was grateful to be relieved of the task of navigating these headache rendering halls on her own.

When they reached the shoji doors that belonged to her bedroom, she grinned wildly and pounced Kaji, effectively dampening her clothes. "Oh, thank you, Kaji! I don't know what I would do without you!" She cried, hugging her tightly. She finally let go of an extremely frazzled Kitsune-kijo and helped her up.

She admitted that the thanks had been a bit over dramatic...

"You're perfectly welcome, milady." Kaji smiled, still stunned by Kagome's odd behavior. She had, after all, never been embraced by anyone but her mother. "Would you like me to help you change into a new kimono? Lord Sesshoumaru is expecting you for lunch. That's only fifteen minutes away."

Kagome smiled in gratitude and entered the room with Kaji close behind. After she heard the shoji door close behind her, she let go of her loosened kimono and let it slide to the floor to gather in a wet mass, which Kaji immediately picked up. She was handed undergarments and changed out of her wet ones and into the soft dry ones.

She took a second to looked around at her chambers once again, for the hundredth time. It was simple, but breathtaking at the very same moment. The floors were of bamboo, a youkai silk shielding the feet from harm but not the eyes from the exquisite sight. The rice paper walls were framed by bamboo as well, and the rice paper itself was decorated with a mural of a bamboo forest painted in soft tones.

She had a bamboo wardrobe in the south-eastern corner of the room, containing a remarkable amount of Kimono's and traditional Japanese sandals, Some made of the traditional wood, some made from the finest marble stone. A large slate of glass that acted as a mirror, it's surface rippling with youkai magic, was located in the south-western corner. Behind that mirror, there was a trap door, leading to a narrow hallway which was the way to her own personal underground hot-spring. The door was in the north-western corner, it being the only part of the room not decorated with bamboo.

Sitting in the center of the eastern wall was a large, white laden futon, equivalent in size to a queen sized bed in modern times. The north-eastern corner had a small bamboo table, round and unremarkable, graced by the presence of several white candles and a tea set, it's porcelain surfaces decorated with bamboo.

When she turned around, Kagome found Kaji holding a Sapphire Kimono with white sakura flowers scattered across it's surface and a pure white obi. Held by it's beauty, she allowed Kaji to slide the kimono onto her figure and mechanically held it in place while the other demoness tied the obi in an intricate bow that left the ends long enough to drag behind Kagome on the floor. Kaji then ran a comb through Kagome's hair, securing the ivory thing behind her left ear when she had finished with it. She tried to apply make-up, but Kagome refused stubbornly.

Kagome looked into the youkai reflective pool set in her room, stunned by how the deep blue kimono seemed to darken her oceanic eyes. She smiled, her fangs gleaming in the light. She turned to the red headed demoness behind her and widened her smile. "Thank you very much, Kaji."

"Of course, milady." Kaji bowed low. "Shall we go, then? I will escort you to the dining room." She said, walking to the rice paper and opening it smoothly. Kagome laughed a bit and exited her room, waiting to follow Kaji to the dining room.

The first few minutes of their walk was silent, used by Kaji to muster up enough courage to ask a question. "Kagome-sama?" She asked unobtrusively.

"Yes?" Kagome answered serenely.

"I do not recognize your markings. . . but it is said that you are of the Moon Wolf Clan and that your father is Taiyoukai. Is this true?"

"Hai. It is." Kagome said, nodding in affirmation.

She heard a gasp, knowing full well that being in the house of the moon wolves was something to be commended for. Her father's power rivaled even that of Sesshoumaru, though he did come in a close second in battle. No doubt her brother was powerful as well. This thought brought a pang of longing in her gut, and she suddenly wanted desperately to see her true family again. Her adoptive, mortal family had been very understanding and loving, but saying goodbye to them for the last time was somewhat of a relief to her, for it brought the knowledge that she would soon see her father and brother and mother again.

She was brought out of her reverie with Kaji's voice. "Milord Sesshoumaru, the Lady Kagome has come as requested." She spoke to the shoji door.

"Good. You are dismissed." Sesshoumaru said in return.

Once again, Kaji bowed low to Kagome and scuttled off to her chores. Kagome took a calming breath and slid open the door, steeping inside, and closing it.

"Sesshoumaru." She greeted, bowing half way to him.

"Kagome." He returned, bowing as well. Sesshoumaru had stood for her entrance and now sat. He was located at the end of a Shokutaku (Japanese traditional dining table). He motioned for her to sit at the corner right of him, and she complied.

They sat for a few moments in compatible silence, as they had when they had first had a conversation. Finally, Kagome had to say something. She decided Rin's odd behavior was a good place to start. "Sesshoumaru, I promised you we'd talk, and I intend on talking." She said, meeting molten eyes with her own icy gaze. "I don't think it's healthy for Rin to be so submissive around you. At her age, she shouldn't feel that she needs to apologize for having fun. It is in her nature and I'll be damned if she is going to become a lifeless doll like Kanna was." She told him heatedly.

Sesshoumaru continued to hold her gaze, passive as always. Once again, his respect for her grew. As a human, she had earned his grudging respect, something very few demons ever achieved. In fact, Sesshoumaru didn't believe that there was current demon, other than Kagome, that had his respect. Now that she was youkai, his respect grew with each word that she spoke. However, he was not going to be told that it was his fault that his ward acted the way she did.

"It is out of her own accord that she is as such. She believes that if she is not perfect, than I will abandon her, as she believes her parents did. I cannot ask her to immediately trust me. Rin is not an ordinary child, and will not be an ordinary woman. But I to will be damned before she becomes a shell as Naraku's incarnation was. Do not patronize me as if I am an incompetent peasant." Sesshoumaru raged in is own, calm way.

Kagome sat back, shocked at Sesshoumaru's words. She knew that it was not her place to tell Sesshoumaru what to do. "I am sorry, Sesshoumaru. It wasn't my place, after you have been so hospitable." She bowed her head. "I will not speak so condescendingly of you again, milord." She said, her eyes softening. "You truly care for Rin, don't you?" She asked suddenly, meeting his gaze once again.

However, this time, instead of two fierce elements striking the other in their intensity, they seemed to lull the other. Baby blue, soft and oceanic, met an understated sunflower yellow, beautiful and subtle.

It took Sesshoumaru to come to grips with what she was asking. The young wolf demoness in front of him gazed at him imploringly, softly. Finally, after feeling a moment of total peace in those blue eyes, he met her eyes totally, saying nothing, needing to say nothing.

Somehow, in the few days that he had truly known Kagome, human and not, the great, handsome, cold, Taiyoukai had come to trust her. It was something about her that was totally understanding and open, something that made even him want to tell her his life story and cry into her bosom. But he, being the emotionless man he was, would not. But he would allow her his trust. Kami forbid she betray it.

_-The stray cat mewled mournfully _

_for the home it had known_

_but when it was given good food, _

_it purred contentedly-_

_and let me stroke it's back-_


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Do you _enjoy_ my sadness? Here! Take a whole bucketful!

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 3

It had been a month since Kagome had arrived with Sesshoumaru at the Western palace. She had finally mastered the enigma that was the layout. Now, when she was summoned by Sesshoumaru, which she was often, she did not need Kaji to lead her through the halls to wherever the Taiyoukai might have been.

It puzzled Kagome why Sesshoumaru called upon her so often. When he did, he never really spoke, instead just keeping her there in silence, not attempting at making small talk. But after maybe thirty minutes of silence he would turn to her and begin speaking to her in confidence, about things she had never known about him. His words were quiet and calm, as he usually was, but his eyes would tell volumes of what he was feeling as he told her these things.

He often spoke of his mother and father, and of, oddly enough, of Rio, Rin's personal handmaiden. He would briefly speak of Inuyasha, and rarely, scorn lacing every word spoken of him. It wasn't until the third meeting that they had until he told her of the death of his mother and the human replacement that had so easily slid into her position that Kagome understood his deep hate. He told of the treachery that the woman was and how she would always look down on him with scorn because he was not hers. He told of his father's indifference to him, as if he was no longer important, and the long hours he trained to become strong and the pain he put himself through to show no emotion.

Kagome often would take his hand while listening, forever quiet and understanding, she would flare her aura to comfort him when he spoke of things sensitive to him.

And then she understood that, for some reason, she had become Sesshoumaru's safe vault for all of his feelings. Surprisingly, she wasn't angry that he had put this upon her shoulders to help him carry his burden. Instead, she gladly became the steady rock that he could look to for strength and became the bowl for his tears. She vowed that she would be there for Sesshoumaru when he needed her. Why? She had no idea. However, it was a vow she was prepared to make and keep.

--------

Sesshoumaru sat quietly on the bank of his favorite meditation spot. A small waterfall fed the lake before him, a serene twinkling sound that calmed his nerves almost as well as, he admitted, Kagome's presence did. The two sakura trees placed on either side of the brook that became the water fall let off a scent that reminded him of the demoness that had recently began consuming his every conscious thought. However, be believed that her scent was more refreshing and pleasant than the almost bland scent of sakura petals. In a week, Sesshoumaru had realized his attraction for Kagome.

He didn't know why he trusted her so, or why he always had this impulse to tell her everything about himself and his life. It disgusted him that he could become so vulnerable around her, but at the same time he had never been judged by her, nor scorned for his feelings when he spoke to her, as he been by his father.

Sesshoumaru respected Kagome more than he ever had anyone else, and had a profound trust for her that he found unnerving. However, there was something else there that he had felt when he had first lain eyes on her as a human. It was a sort of animal attraction, only amplified by her transformation into the demoness vixen she was now. And he realized that the most appealing thing about her was that, even as a demoness, she remained innocent and strong willed, unaware of her extreme beauty.

The great Demon lord was jolted from his silent thoughts when he heard a shuffling beside him. It surprised him that he hadn't sensed her before, only able to hear her at this short distance. However, now that he _could _sense her, he knew who it was.

"Kagome."

"Sesshoumaru." Came the quiet, melodic response from beside him. He felt her slide from her crouching position and sit cross legged beside him. "I wasn't aware that you came here. It's my favorite place in the entire garden."

"How did you manage to-"

"-get here without you sensing me?" She finished his sentence. "Oh, I just learned how to mask my youkai energy. Isn't it great?" She asked, excited. Sesshoumaru couldn't help but let his lips twitch at this. "Oh, Kami! You smiled!" Kagome screeched. However, this did not do to well for either of their ears.

Clutching his ringing ears, Sesshoumaru hissed, "I did no such thing, woman."

Doing the same, Kagome responded, "Yes, you did, Sesshoumaru. And I hope you haven't forgotten my name. But just in case, It's Kagome." by now, the ringing had worn off.

"Fine, Kagome." he responded, rubbing his ears. "How did you learn to mask your energy?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning to her.

"Oh, it was easy. I just masked it like I did my miko energy." She said off handedly. "Though I have to say, it takes a bit more force to hold back the energy. Mostly because it is me and not just the shikon jewel that I am masking."

Sesshoumaru nodded, secretly amazed that she had learned so quickly. "Kagome, have you any training in the way of a warrior?" he asked, a plan forming in his mind.

"No, not that I can remember, though I remember watching my mother practice with her bladed fans. I wanted to learn, but they told me I was too young. . . why?" Kagome replied. Her marine eyes looked up at him imploringly.

"You need to be trained. I will teach you. . . Though it would be best if I had Rio train you with the fans. She has experience with a wide variety of weapons, no doubt fans is among them. She was always very fond of flying objects." he said. Before he knew it, he had a pair of lithe arms wrapped around himself and a face pressed against his chest.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kagome said softly, remembering their ears. Without thinking, she raised her head and kissed Sesshoumaru on the cheek. This earned and growl and she suddenly found herself pinned to the ground by her shoulders. Sesshoumaru's long, silken hair created a screen around their faces and their eyes clashed dangerously, an elemental war between two great forces. Kagome's eyes widened when Sesshoumaru's face dropped a couple inches.

"You shouldn't have done that, Kagome." Sesshoumaru growled, saying her name as if he liked the way it tasted.

Her breath hitched and her head became light as she was overwhelmed with his scent of ice and spearmint scent. Also, lacing his scent was a trace of arousal, and it scared Kagome. However, she wasn't about to let him know that. "Why?" She asked cockily, jutting her chin out and staring at him straight in the face.

Sesshoumaru's eyes clouded slightly and his voice was deep and husky, making Kagome shiver. "Because I'm far too attracted to you not to react."

Her eyes wide, she waited for him to do something. However, he seemed to be having an internal war with himself. He let out a series of growls and grunts before stopping, staring her straight in the face. "Don't do it again unless you want me to take you." Sesshoumaru growled before abruptly removing himself from her person. He started to walk away, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn around.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru." Kagome said quietly, and he could tell her eyes were downcast. And before he knew it, she was gone, disappeared among the sakura tree and her energy masked. Just like the moon would disappear behind a dark cloud.

Princess Kagome of the Moon Wolves. Realization hit Sesshoumaru like a block of stone. Next to his dynasty, they where the most powerful clan in Japan. Only he bested them, and was merely because he had about a kilometer more land. In battle, he and Lord Katai had never really had a victor. However, Katai's son, Yoru, was said to be learning quickly. They really were quite the honorable family, and Kagome was the great lord's kind and fair pup.

And that was why Sesshoumaru dreaded telling her about their broken alliance and the bitterness between the two dynasties.

Sesshoumaru realized it was getting late and that if he was to speak to Rio about Kagome's training then he would have to catch her before she went out on her hunting spree as she did every night. Silently, he made his way to the castle.

Kagome was breathing deeply, trying to calm herself to the point of clear thinking. She was in her room, her eyes closed to the world surrounding her. All she could see were the twin suns that burned so blindingly bright that it was impossible to look away for the fear that they would not be there once more when you looked. Instead of the quiet atmosphere in her room, all she felt was the silky white hair that brushed against her cheek and the fierce grip of strong hands on her shoulders. Silence did not grace her ears, instead, his shallow breathing echoed endlessly in her head, breaking the sound apart to reveal the intensity behind those dragging breathes.

His words then began resounding in her mind.

'_Because I am far too attracted to you not to react.' _

What did that mean? Was he really attracted to her?

It was a possibility to Kagome now that she knew the actual Sesshoumaru, the one who had so much on his shoulders that it was mandatory to become a cold shell. However, it was weird to think of Sesshoumaru as a potential partner, though she herself was extremely attracted to him in turn. She shook her head.

'_I shouldn't be thinking things like this. He is a Taiyoukai and has a choice of any woman he could ever want, why would he want someone as young and juvenile as me? I am after all, only 19. And how old is he, two hundred? That's a difference of 381 years.'_

Kagome glance over at the trap door behind her mirror.

A hot spring sounded really good right about now. It was about four o'clock, and dinner was at five thirty. That was enough time.

Kagome slid out of her short kimono, replacing it with a yukata. She let her hair down from its coiled braid, and silently opened the trap door, climbing down the latter before hitting the bottom with a small click from her hanka (those sandal things). Then, still uneasy in the slightly dingy corridor, she made her way to the hot spring. As she walked, the clicking of her hanka was the only sound, except for the sound of droplets of water hitting the stone floor of the narrow passage. Her demonic hearing could pick up the faint sound of the people scuttling around twenty feet above her. She grinned devilishly as she heard the crash of pans and an audible moan of pain, followed by a loud chastisement.

She giggled quietly and stepped out of the passage, sliding easily between the wall and a tree to come out in front of the spring. It was surrounded by trees and large, flowery shrubs, completely concealed. The water was clear and steaming, gray rock becoming the bed of the small expanse of water. Purely out of habit, Kagome looked around warily before approaching the spring and shedding her clothes. Immediately, the steam began to cling to her skin, and she gladly slid into the steaming water. She waded over to a low rock and leaned against it, relaxing and momentarily forgetting about Sesshoumaru.

A few hours later

Kagome woke up with a start, instantly overwhelmed by the scent of amber myrrh and wind. Her eyes flew open, expecting to find herself in the hot spring. But, instead, she found that it was her room that surrounded her. She wondered when she had come back, but realized that she hadn't.

"You were not present for supper. I would have thought that you would have a better excuse than falling asleep in the springs." Sesshoumaru's deep, smooth voice sounded behind her.

"Gomen, Sesshoumaru. . . " Kagome trailed off, taking a look at her attire. She was in a yukata, and not the one she had brought to the springs. She spun around, facing him. "You. . . You saw me. . .naked. . ." She nearly fainted, had it not been for Sesshoumaru.

"I did no such thing, Kagome." he said, remembering her name. "I used your yukata to cover you in the water. It was a damnable experience trying to change you into this one without seeing you indecent." he nearly pouted, which made Kagome want to squeal. It was amazing just how much Sesshoumaru was opening up to her after just a month. It made her excited to stay with him, just to unpeel his ruthless exterior. She smiled softly at this thought, catching Sesshoumaru's attention.

"Why do you smile? You have missed supper, caused this Sesshoumaru to go in search of you, just to find you asleep and naked in a spring." he paused, "I might be lying to you and have actually ravished you in your sleep." he said off handedly. He gouged her response, left disappointed when she didn't react.

Kagome ignored his last sentence. "I smile because you're going to have to feed me now." Her statement was reinforced with a growl from her stomach.

"No I won't. You are not eating tonight."

"Why?" Kagome whined.

"You missed supper."

"But I'm hungry!"

"That doesn't matter. You missed your time to eat and now you can wait until morning."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please, Sesshoumaru. . .Sama? Oh great and mighty lord of the western lands?"

"Fine, but you are getting up early tomorrow."

Oh yes, sweet victory. You can never fail with male egos. So easily persuaded.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru!" Kagome hugged him, refraining from kissing him on the cheek.

"Ehem." Oh great, she'd created a monster.

"Sesshoumaru-_sama_."

"That's better." Sesshoumaru smirked. "By the way, Kagome. Your training begins tomorrow. Your time with Rin will be moved to the afternoon and the entire morning will be committed to your training with Rio and I. You will begin with me, which will be fitness, and then you will go to Rio, who will train you with the fighting fans." They were now in the hall, walking towards the kitchen.

He heard a gasp. "Is this not satisfactory? I was under the impression that you were fond of fighting fans."

"No, no, no. it's perfectly satisfactory. I have always wanted to used them, I'm so glad I finally get a chance." Kagome responded. She turned to look at him, smiling excitedly. He looked down at her briefly to nod in affirmation.

She took the next few minutes to truly appreciate the wonderful architecture of Sesshoumaru's castle. It was traditional, but the rice paper was never left bare, Every segment decorated elegantly in a flowing, silently speaking mural. It was like a river of stories that melded together in a subtle but underlyingly elaborate saga. Kagome's eyes never got used to such fascinatingly beautiful art that seemed to be a part of the castle's history.

The halls were wide and high, Large enough so that a full sized youkai could comfortably travel their lengths. The bracing that held the walls in place was light ash wood, dyed black to meld with the great mural. The great halls formed a huge frame round the inner rooms, cutting across the expanse of Sesshoumaru's home to form a cross through the center. Smaller, less grande hallways were placed here and there for the convenience of one who new his way around and needed to get somewhere quickly. A new discovery had also been found, a dojo in the garden, large and beautiful. .

Yes, Kagome had mastered the house, which really was only intimidating in it's size. The layout was quite simple when you got over the fact that if the castle was existent in modern day, it would take up over Eight hundred acres by itself, at least one thousand, six hundred acres with the garden. That's one hundred and fifty extra large high schools. It was a good thing that there were those passageways. ((Okay. . . I'm pretty sure that's not mathematically correct, but I could care less. . . it's really big, okay?))

Finally, they reached the dining room, where Sesshoumaru and Kagome sat. Almost immediately, a servant appeared from the shoji door leading to the kitchens. She looked at Kagome and smiled knowingly, though said nothing. She turned to Sesshoumaru. "Milord, how may I serve you?"

"Kagome-sama has decided that she is indeed hungry. Serve her dinner." Sesshoumaru told the woman, who bowed with a gentle demeanor and scurried off to prepare the late meal.

"You know, I could have made my own food. I did learn something while a human, you know." She said to him, though smiling because she didn't have to fix her own dinner.

"That is what servants are for."

"That doesn't justify using other youkai as tools just because you are more powerful then them."

"Yes, it does." Sesshoumaru retorted, amused at her lack of knowledge on the matter. "A servant signs a contract, agreeing to serve his or her lord as long he or she and their heirs live, or until they die or are let go, and in return, they are given free lodging, clothes, food, and protection from a lord. It is perfectly justified."

Kagome shut up, knowing that he had a point. None of the servants in his home were bitter or mean spirited, from what she had seen. They all complied with their lord's wishes faithfully. "Whatever." She mumbled, not wanting to try to win a lost battle.

"Whatever? I am not familiar with this word you speak of." Sesshoumaru said, puzzled as to here she had learned such a term.

"It means I don't care, what ever you say, drop the subject." Kagome explained.

"I see. . ." Sesshoumaru said, and Kagome, who was pretendigto sulk with her head down, looking at her lap, could picture him stroking his chin like a Chinese wise man, with it jutted out and his lips pursed comically. Kagome giggled at the thought. "What _do_ you find so comical, onna?"

When she raised her head, she found him frozen in mid stroke with one eyebrow raised. She burst out laughing then, unable to answer his question. It was probably better that way. Sesshoumaru was about to press his question, but at that moment the servant came out with the dinner.

"Dinner is served, milady." She said kindly, placing the gilded silver on the shobunoku in front of Kagome and taking away the lid in one fluid motion. Kagome smelled the aroma of fresh rabbit meat and white fish sushi. She closed her eyes in pure ecstasy before opening her eyes to thank the servant. However, the woman was gone. Sad that she was not able to thank her properly, she pouted, but the grumble of her stomach impelled her to begin her meal. Gratefully, she complied with it's wishes, and dug in unceremoniously, forgetting about the chopsticks placed beside the meal.

After dinner, in Kagome's room.-

'_Why am I still with her? I should be in my own chambers, not here, with her.' _Sesshoumaru thought as he stared at the wall across from him dully.

Kagome sat beside him, wondering the exact the same thing. They sat there in perfect silence, not minding their close proximity. Kagome began to think about Inuyasha, realizing that she had never been able to sit like this with him. She didn't understand him and he didn't understand her, like it was with Sesshoumaru Now, he was only a memory, and that fact was not mutual. The only friends she had gained were now gone, dead and in another world where she knew she couldn't go. At least, not for a long time. She looked up at Sesshoumaru, who seemed to be having his own thoughts.

It was dark in her room, no illumination coming from the lamp at her futon side. However, neither youkai seemed to mind. It was better in the dark, there was no falseness in the dark, as there was when the lamp was lit. a lamp was fake light, a cheap imitation that defied the laws of nature. Kagome decided she didn't like it.

She let her gaze return to the wall in front of her, never breaking the blessed silence. She tried not to think of her lost companions, becoming melancholy when she did. And that was why she began to treasure her meeting with Sesshoumaru so, because when she was with him, she was not thinking of them. She felt his golden eyes on her, and turned her head to meet his fiery gaze with her own.

"It is late, and you have training in the morning. I will take my leave." he said softly, as if not to scare off the silence so that it may bless her once more when he had left. In a fluid motion, he stood and glided over to the door. "Goodnight." he whispered.

"Goodnight." responded Kagome before standing as well and approaching him. "I will see you in the morning, then?" She asked, a mere two feet from him.

Briskly, he nodded and turned, silently opening the shoji door, stepping out and closing it, holding her gaze until the rice paper blocked his view.

_-While walking home _

_I saw a wild bird,_

_with a broken wing and pain in it's eyes_

_and though I knew I should leave it lone_

_that pain mirrored my own _

_and so, now I nurse the bird back to health_

_hoping that one day_

_it will sing sweetly in my ear_

_and thank me for what I have done-_

Oh, I am loving this ending. It's so…. Final. I dunno. I be needin feed back, peepuls! Review and all that good stuff.


	5. Chapter 4

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 4

Two months at a place she now unconsciously referred to as home. And then there was the last month. A month of constant training, rigorous and unforgiving. One month of sunset walks in the garden with Sesshoumaru, sometimes speaking, sometimes not, but every walk was pleasant. Kagome began to truly look forward to seeing Sesshoumaru, just so that she could speak to him as she did no other she had ever met. No meeting between them was ever even slightly unpleasant. However, today, that record was about to be broken.

"Sesshoumaru, how many times are you going to say that?" She asked, bewildered.

"As many times as needed." he answered, letting the slight smile that Kagome had grown so accustomed to adorn his lips. But then, his face became serious and he stopped her in her next step forward. Finally, after getting her full attention, he took a deep breath and began.

"Kagome, you are of the moon wolves, of the northern lands, am I correct?"

She nodded, confused at his sudden seriousness. "Yes, I am." A small pang of longing shot through her.

Sesshoumaru saw the small amount of yearning for her family flash across her eyes, making him want to die for what he was about to say. "Well, the moon wolves and the inu clan had a very strong alliance about a hundred years ago. My father and your father were not friends, but the alliance between them was strong, and they, being the two most powerful youkai in the four lands, were a force that was not to be challenged."

Kagome grinned, still remembering her father and his great strength. But Sesshoumaru's solemn expression dulled her joy. They were now walking again, headed towards their favorite spot.

"However, ninety five years ago, when I was in my last year of training, their alliance was broken. It was because Inuyasha's mother, who was now in the picture, committed a great sin against Katai's mate, your mother. It is part the reason why I hate her so." He paused, looking at Kagome, whose eyes were wide as she took in the information. "Kagome, Izayoi attempted to have your mother assassinated, because she believed the my father had eyes for her. Of course, he didn't, I could tell. But Katai confronted my father, telling him what had happened, and my father didn't believe him, saying that he was only angry at the fact that Izayoi was human."

"That human bitch almost had my mother killed, and in turned almost killed my brother and myself! Sesshoumaru, that is unforgivable." She stared at him.

"I know. And that is why my father didn't want to believe Katai when he told him this. If the mate of a youkai attempts to take the life of another's mate, then the penalty is death. Katai was outraged that this had happened, and my father was outraged that Katai would claim such a thing. But neither wanted war, so the alliance was broken." They were now sitting beside the lake, looking across it's glassy surface.

"And what did Izayoi do?" Kagome asked, unhindered hatred lacing her words.

"She feigned innocence. I could smell her lies, but my father's senses were so clouded with whatever she was giving him that he didn't notice. I caught her in the hall, overlooking the feud between them through a window, smiling like a wicked little bird." Sesshoumaru said in a dead voice. "I tried to warn my father, but she was pregnant with his pup and he would not have any of it. I was secluded to my room for month's, Rio my only window to the world outside."

"Oh, Sesshoumaru, that's horrible." Kagome said, touching his hand with her long, clawed fingers. "But that's in the past, and your father is no longer here. Could we not mend the alliance? I am after all, his pup, and I can vouch for you, tell him that you had nothing to do with it, that you had tried to tell you father what was happening."

Sesshoumaru marveled at her, wondering where she could possibly get so much incite. However, there was a flaw. "Kagome, how will he know that I haven't lied to you?"

"Because you haven't. I would smell it, remember. And if he wants proof, then we'll have to find some, won't we?" She smiled brilliantly, then her expression darkened and she grasped his hand. "I won't have my only true friend taken away from me because of his stepmother's mistake.

Once again, Sesshoumaru had to pause and revisit the part of him that admired Kagome endlessly. It was amazing to him that even though she had no real reason to trust him, Kagome was willing to sacrafice her honor just to keep him in her life."It is admiral what you are doing, Kagome." Sesshoumaru said to her in the same, cold, calm voice he always used.

Kagome blushed slightly and smiled, looking down at her white kimono. The obi matched her eyes, long enough to hover just a bit over the ground. It really was amazing what Kaji could do with those hands of hers. Kagome then took out her fighting fans, the ones that Rio had given her only a week ago. One was black, the other red. Their metal shone brightly in the afternoon sun ((I know that fighting fans aren't really made of metal, but they _are _Chinese, so the Japanese ones get to be metal, so HA!)) On each fan, in white, were dragons, their wings spread across the fans and their jaws spread in a malicious grin. Personally, Kagome found them charming in a horrible way. Of course, on the other side of each fan was a feminine, gentle design in white of sakura petals floating in the metallic surrounding.

They had been a gift from Rio, because she was coming along so quickly. However, she was forbidden to use them until her training was complete. Kagome sighed. It was going to be a long time before that happened.

--------

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha called, walking angrily through the village. "Kikyo! Get out here right now!"

"What, Inuyasha? Is something wrong?" Kikyo stepped out of a small home, a young, two year old girl on her hip. The girl was playing with her long, ebon hair, tugging it gently. Kikyo smiled sweetly at the girl, readjusting her placement on her hip. Inuyasha's eyes softened when he saw the interaction between the two. He forgot what had been troubling him and approached Kikyo and the child. Before he was even in the vicinity, the child had sprung from Kikyo's grasp and pounced on his head, tugging at his ears as she had his mate's hair.

"Look Kikyo-san! Puppy ears!" She squealed delightedly. Inuyasha just stood there, his expression dark.

"Oh, Inuyasha. Please stop, you look like a sulking puppy." Kikyo laughed. It was such an infectious sound that Inuyasha had to smile as well. But then something panged inside him, and he seemed to remember another woman who laughed like that.

He was brought back to earth quickly and gently picked up the girl, prying her from his now sore ears, and handed her to Kikyo. He turned to his mate. "Come back to the house soon. I have to talk to you. Alright?"

Still smiling, Kikyo nodded. "Alright. I'll only be a bit."

----------

"Sesshoumaru, We've been running for at least two hours. Don't you think it's about time to head back?" Asked Kagome, who wasn't winded at all, but knew that her training with Rio began soon.

"Alright. You go your fastest all the way back. Whether or not you train with Rio today depends on your speed. You have," He paused, "two minutes to get back to the training grounds." he smirked at Kagome's widened eyes.

"I should kill you for doing this to me." She growled.

"One minute fifty seconds."

Kagome started, realizing he was serious, and turned around, going her fastest. Though she was barely winded, she doubted she could go that fast. However, she pushed her self faster, going to her ultimate limit. Thirty seconds, she counted, one minute twenty seconds left, and she wasn't even a fourth done. Almost impossibly, she pushed herself to go faster, the terrain turning into blurry images that passed quickly.

Twenty seconds.

One minute left. She dug deep, her strides becoming longer and quicker, if possible, and her arms working faster than they ever had before.

Thirty seconds left.

She could smell the palace. However, she couldn't go any faster. She kept the stride.

Ten seconds left. She pushed harder.

9. Just a few more steps.

8. It all became slow motion.

7.

6.

5.

4. One more step.

3. 2. 1.

Kagome grinned like a Cheshire cat as she stopped in front of a waiting Rio. However, now she was tired, and her happiness became fatigue, ending in a heap of Kagome on the ground.

Sesshoumaru showed up a few seconds later, shaking his head at her. "She did quite well, too." he said. "Pity." Rio grinned knowingly at him as he picked her up with the gentlest of care to cradle her in his arms. Somewhere along the line, Kagome had healed and regenerated his arm with her last bit of miko energy.

As he walked to her bedroom, he gazed at her, studying the demonic markings that were so elegant and regal that only they could belong to Kagome. However, a voice interrupted his reverie, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"You have grown quite attached to her, Sesshoumaru." Rio said from behind him. "Even more so than the child."

Sesshoumaru looked down at the angelic demon in his arms. "I have no knowledge of what you talk about, Rio." he responded coldly.

"There is no need to be so cold around me, Sesshoumaru. I know you, the true you." Rio said gently, a clawed hand touching his arm.

Sesshoumaru stopped, closing his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes were no longer icy and distant, but burning with passion and intelligence. " I know, Rio." When he spoke, his voice wasn't emotionless, but compliant and almost juvenile. "When I am with her," he paused, gazing down at Kagome once more. "I can feel my control slipping, can feel it all melting away into this, which I have only shown to you. You are only so lucky, Rio." Now, his voice was more masculine, resonating softly with his power.

Rio smiled at her former ward. "Of course, Sesshoumaru." She responded, "If you would like, I will take Kagome-san to her room. Then you may return to your business."

"No, Rio. I will do it myself. Rin, though, is in need of companionship other than Jaken." He hinted. He watched Rio bow and go off to find his ward. It was only a few more steps until they were at Kagome's chambers. Easily, he slid the door open with his head and closed it behind him with his foot. At the moment that he had set her down on her futon, her eyes shot open. Kneeling beside her, he was too surprised to put his mask on. However, maybe it was better this way. "Really, I'm beginning to think you just enjoy being in my arms, Kagome." he teased, not bothering to put up his mask now that she had already seen his true self.

Kagome sat up, supporting herself with her hands behind her, and smiled brightly at him. She was still a bit weak, but she believed she just needed water. "Sesshoumaru." She whispered. "I knew you wee not truly like that." She reached up and stroked her fingers through his silken white hair. "So soft." she murmured, still in a bit of euphoria.

Unable to control himself, Sesshoumaru growled in pleasure and leaned his head against her soft, massaging fingers. Kagome giggled at him. She stopped though, still smiling at him. Light filtered easily through into her room, cascading down around him. It made him look like a god. Sesshoumaru stopped growling and stared at her for a moment before standing and turning to leave. "You will have training tomorrow. Rio is occupied at the moment." he smiled at her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Rest." He turned from her, slipping his mask back into place. However, Kagome's voice stopped him.

"Sesshoumaru. Will you stay with me?" She asked. It was the same request she had given him three weeks ago, but somehow, this time it was different. This time, she didn't just mean stay and sit next to her so that she might fall asleep quickly. However, it was asked in pure innocence, and Sesshoumaru understood.

Nodding, he turned back towards her. He kneeled next to her on her futon, looking into her eyes. Then, with a comical expression, Kagome said, "We smell, Sesshoumaru. Perhaps we should bathe first." it took her a moment to realize what she had just said. ". . ." She looked away awkwardly.

However, She felt his clawed finger on her chin, pulling it back to face him. "That isn't a horrible idea." he responded, smirking at her widened eyes. "You may bathe first, Kagome." he said. "I will stay here." Sesshoumaru acted as if they had not just hinted at the obvious attraction they held for one another.

Kagome decided to act the same and nodded, getting up from the futon. "No peeking." She said sternly before grabbing a yukata and her favorite soaps and dropping down the now open trap door.

"Don't fall asleep." Sesshoumaru called to her. It was responded to with a less important soap thrown at his head and a slammed trap door. He grinned. He enjoyed acting like this around Kagome. She brought out the young demon in him that he thought he had lost.

Twenty minutes later, the trap door opened to reveal a wet, clean smelling Kagome, in nothing but a yukata. She was mumbling darkly about something concerning see through yukatas and how they should all be burned.

"Have fun?" Sesshoumaru asked, causing her to raise her head and look at him, wide eyed. Remembering that he was supposed to be here, she growled at him, pulling the yukata closer to her sopping body. This did nothing to stop Sesshoumaru's roaming eyes.

Sesshoumaru couldn't help it. Right then and there, he wanted to take her.

"Stop staring at me, you hentai!" Kagome hissed, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Go get clean!" She finally said after he wouldn't stop staring, no doubt undressing her with his mind.

Sesshoumaru responded a moment later with a nod and grunt. He then stood and walked to the trap door, winking at her before disappearing down the hole in the floor.

Kagome grumbled some more before closing the trap door that had been left open and taking off the yukata. Using her Youkai energy, she quickly ridded her bare body of every droplet of water running down the milky skin. Her long, raven hair dried as well, smooth and shining, as though it had never been wet. It wasn't even noon, and she had been told to rest. She didn't want to rest. Her fatigue was gone, and she had just met a whole new side of Sesshoumaru.

So, in a determined way, she went through her wardrobe, finally finding what she wanted. Grinning, she picked out the obi, triumphantly glaring at it. She had just recently learned how to tie an obi in several ways, thanks to Kaji. Quickly, she bound her breast, and slipped on her underwear from the future, more comfortable than what she had been given. Her bra was now too small, but her hips had not grown all that much.

She looked at her selection. The kimono was white, with a navy blue version of Sesshoumaru's Sakura design printed over the shoulder and down the back. It was long, but a part in the front was bunched up deliberately, the fabric cut longer so that only that part was risen from it's original place. The bunching created a fashionable slit up the side, make Kagome more able to move around and fight if necessary. The sleeves ended at her elbow, becoming bigger so that they hung widely from her arm at the end. She had several kimono's designed this way, for when she went out. The obi was white as well, though it was thinner and lighter than a traditional obi, more of a sash. On it were intricate designs of sakura flowers. Really, they were her favorite.

Kagome put on the kimono, securing it with the obi, tying it in a simple bow at the back. The ends hung down to her knees. Kagome put her hair up into a bun, the ends of her long locks splaying out in a fan at the back of her head, dead in the center. She held it up with two tongs, running them through the hair parallel to the other. Looking at herself in the youkai mirror, she grinned, allowing her fangs to poke out under her top lip.

At that moment, she heard the trap door flip open. She turned to see a silver clad head pop out from the hole. Sesshoumaru's face turned to her, surprise briefly crossing his face at her clothing. Obviously, he had somehow gone to his own chambers and retrieved new clothes, because he was in his own clothing, and they didn't smell bad. His wonderful scent wasn't marred any longer by sweat and salt. Kagome grinned.

"Sesshoumaru, I decided I'm not tired enough to go to sleep just yet. It's not even noon! And since you don't have anything to do today, We are going to go do something." She walked over to him, grasping his hand in her smaller one. Surprisingly, He didn't reject her hand as he usually did.

"What do you propose we do?" he asked, his mask in place and his dead voice resonating through the room.

She looked up at him with her puppy eyes. _'oh no.' _Sesshoumaru thought. "Could we go see the villagers at Kaede-sama's village? I want to see Kaede and to see that they are okay? I also kind of wanted to see the well." She looked up at him, pleading like a pup would.

"What about Inuyasha?"

She hadn't thought of that. he eyes became downcast. "He will not know me."

"And what about you?"

"I'll manage." She looked up at him with earnest eyes. "It would be worth it to see Kaede."

"Fine, but at the first sign of Inuyasha, we are leaving."

He was rewarded with a tight hug. "Deal." Kagome murmured from behind the haori's fabric.

_-A woman was crying on the road,_

_and to help her, _

_I gave her money_

_she gave it back_

_I offered food_

_She did not eat_

_I offered my home to her_

_to which she replied,_

_I want only my home_

_but it was taken from me _

_and I cannot find it_

_And so I offered my assistance, _

_which she refused as well_

_She said,_

_My home has been lost to my heart- _

So? You like? Yeah, next chapter will be pretty dramatic, I think. If you haven't noticed, I'm totally winging this thing. Lol. Not really. I know exactly where this story is going. . .at least, that's what I'm telling you. - Review!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: you people are never satisfied. . .

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 5

They stood side by side, flying quickly through the sky on the only decoration the sky had been offered that day. From below, it was as if a lone cloud was ripping through an otherwise cloudless blue abyss. Kagome's face was assaulted pleasantly by the bright afternoon sun, cooled by the wind that whipped about her form. Beside her, Sesshoumaru had his left arm wrapped securely around her waste, his clawed hand placed comfortably on her flat stomach. Kagome gripped his tail, having felt it only once before, only because she had been unable to resist.

She had a nagging impulse to snuggle into the silken tail, but restrained herself from making a fool out of herself and resigned to merely hold on to it. Briefly, she looked up at Sesshoumaru's intent face, studying the never changing planes of his perfect face, the long, slender nose, the strong, masculine and yet strangely gentle jaw, set firmly so that his lips were pressed together in an unforgiving fashion. His long hair whipped out behind him, his bangs swaying wildly and yet staying stationary on his forehead. The markings gracing his high cheekbones were truly remarkable, as was every other marking on his body. Kagome smiled at his shrouded personality, the personality that was truly the young demon he had forced behind. She smiled at his mask, as well, knowing that it there to protect him from what was not physical.

Still smiling, she turned from him, knowing that he would not look back her, having to keep his eyes ahead. But she knew that he had felt her eyes on him. That was because he tightened his grip on her and his mouth had twitched just a bit in her direction. She really had him figured out. At least, she hoped so. However, there was no more time to ponder this, for at that moment, the cloud descended to a clearing, leaving the sky completely cloudless once again.

Sesshoumaru let go of Kagome to step down and offer her his hand. Without hesitation, she took it, stepping down gracefully from the cloud that disappeared with her departure from it's surface. Kagome smiled brightly as Sesshoumaru, who afforded her a small grin in return, clasped her hand in his before leading her to the village, a mere few feet away. Kagome followed beside him, willingly offering her hand for his use, though it wouldn't have made any difference, seeing as how it was already taken hostage by his own.

They entered the village without gusto, though their presence demanded attention. The villagers bowed low to Sesshoumaru, sending puzzled and amazed stares to Kagome. She smiled at them, taking no mind of the fact that she was holding the Western Taiyoukai's hand. She was too busy looking at the villagers to notice the withered, but strong looking priestess standing in front of them, bowing.

"Milord Sesshoumaru, Milady taikijo." She greeted, recognizing Kagome's marking as that of royalty. "I welcome ye to this humble village. May I ask what it is that brings ye here?" Kaede asked gently, standing to gaze at them both.

Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru for permission, who nodded stiffly, and abandoned his warm hand to run up to the stout priestess and hug her. "Oh, Kaede-baba. I missed you." She said after letting go. Kaede seemed taken aback at first, narrowing her eyes in thought. She studied Kagome for a short while before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Kagome?" She asked in astonishment. "Is that truly ye, child?"

"Yes Kaede-baba, it's me." Kagome said, kneeling before the astonished woman. "I'll explain everything to you in a bit--" She was cut off by a rude and obtrusive yell.

"Oi! Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here?" Inuyasha came barreling down the path towards them, angry and flustered.

Kagome gave Kaede a look that begged her not to say a word, then stood, tall and proud. Though she was fighting to keep back tears, lessons with Sesshoumaru had taught her to control her facial expression, and it remained as stone in front of her once lover.

"I see you've still got this whore around." he jeered. "I guess an outcast is just what you need to satisfy all your _needs._ "

Kagome's eyes snapped up to meet his sneer, anger and hurt reflecting deeply in her soul. All thoughts of her love for him went out of her mind, forgotten. A sudden carnal instinct to protect what was her's seeped into her, and rage filled her very being at Inuyasha's idiocy.

Her fist met squarely with his jaw, throwing him back about a hundred meters. Nimbly, she landed in front of him, standing tall and regal, looking down her nose at him.

"You will not disrespect the Lord Of the Western lands in such a way, half breed." She hissed at a stunned Inu-hanyou. He glared up at the majestic and somehow familiar demoness that had just socked him. "You may be his half-brother," She sneered, allowing her rage to take over, "But you will never have the right to talk down to him as if _he_ is the lowly beast laying at my feet at this moment."

"Why you--" Inuyasha started, standing and placing his hand on his tetsusaiga, but was stopped by Kikyou's voice.

"Inuyasha!" Kikyou cried happily, not yet aware of danger. Kagome's eyes flicked over to Kikyou's running form, her heart lightening a bit to see that the wish had worked. However, this didn't show on her face. Instead of taking up Inuyasha's challenge, which she would have done happily, she stepped back to the side of Sesshoumaru, looking up at him imploringly. He looked back, his face stony, but his eyes telling volumes of what he was thinking.

There was a pride and gratitude in them that puzzled Kagome a bit, but she _had _just punched Inuyasha in the jaw for him. Kagome had never thought that she would ever punch Inuyasha for any reason, but here she was, hoping she would get another shot. There was a hunger inside that she didn't quite understand, a hunger for violence and bloodshed she hadn't previously experienced. And her youkai was willing to jump at the first sign of go so that she could appease that hunger.

Panicking, she looked up at Sesshoumaru. Without speaking, he answered her plea with an arm around her and a reassuring squeeze, bringing her close to him, forcing her to take in his calming scent. Finally, she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, the red that had been bleeding into them was gone. She smiled at him in gratitude, to which he replied with a curt nod. Inuyasha did not notice this, for he was turned to greet Kikyou.

Kikyou, though seeing the two great youkai, kept running until she reached Inuyasha, still smiling. "Inuyasha. I know what you wanted to talk to me about." She grinned, something Kagome thought looked odd on Kikyou.

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "You do?" he looked skeptical.

Kikyou nodded, "I think so. But even if it isn't what you wanted to talk about, I want to talk about it." Inuyasha urged her silently to continue. Looking around warily, she put her lips close to his ear and whispered something not even the two youkai standing in front of them could decipher.

Inuyasha's face split into a grin and he looked like a puppy that had just gotten a big milk bone. He hugged Kikyou close. And then his eyes widened, and forgetting about Sesshoumaru and the demoness that had just pounded him into the dust, he cried, "Oh Kami! I have to prepare! There's so much to do!" And then he was gone, leaving a group of perplexed villagers behind him, along with two disgruntled demons and a beaming priestess.

However, upon turning and seeing the demoness, Kikyou's expression seemed suddenly extremely sour. "Kagome." she said stiffly.

Kagome, whose youkai had receded, smiled gently at Kikyou, ignoring the woman's bitter greeting. "Kikyou. I am glad to see that my wish worked out."

"Hai, domo arigatou. It has made Inuyasha and I extremely happy." She smirked in triumph.

Kagome noticed this, and in a suddenly stony voice that made Sesshoumaru proud, said, "Contrary to your belief, Kikyou, I have no interest in Inuyasha and therefore do not care what you believe of me. I have come to pay the villagers a visit, not compete for what I do not want." She returned Kikyou's glare evenly, with no emotion. Unconsciously, she put her hand over Sesshoumaru's, intertwining his claws with her own. Sesshoumaru twitch a bit, but did nothing.

Kikyou stared in disbelief. This was not the vibrant, emotional girl that Inuyasha had left her for, and then claimed not to know. However, she was determined to undo this girl's mask. "Then you will give me you blessings, for I am having his pup."

"Of course. Remember, Kikyou, I am the one that left him." Kagome tried hard to remain calm and to seem indifferent. And then anger overtook her once again. "I gave you back your life, I gave you Inuyasha, I erased myself from his memory so that you would have no more competition. I gave you everything that you wanted, and you are going to attempt to thwart me in a game I do not play?" The hold on Sesshoumaru's hand was let go as she approached a now slightly cowering miko. "You are an imbecile, Kikyou. I gave you everything that I wanted in life. You are only so fortunate." She lifted her hands together, as if cradling something fragile. "I hold this second life in my hands, Kikyou. Remember that."

She stepped away, into Sesshoumaru's arms, and together they walked away. "I'm sorry this could not be a more pleasant visit, Kaede-baba. Perhaps next time." Kagome called over her shoulder. She left an extremely disgruntled Kikyou and perplexed Kaede behind her, as well as a group of shocked villagers.

At that moment, two enemies had the exact same thought. _'Bitch.'_

"Sesshoumaru, Why would she want to do that? I gave her life, and I can take it away just as easily! I gave her life, I gave her happiness, I gave her INUYASHA! And this is how she repays me? I should go back and disembowel her, cut her into so many pieces you can't tell the difference between her inside and her outside. And I could, too! I don't think she understands that!"

"Kagome, your eyes are turning red again. Calm down."

"Why? What she needs is a good beating, and I think that I should give it to her." She was growling now, and her eyes were thoroughly pink. Her fangs began to lengthen as thoughts of Kikyou's mangled body ran through her head. Her claws grew out, and the royal makings on her skin began to spread all over her body. "I'm going to kill her!" She was about to shoot off back to the village when arms wrapped around her tightly and lips were pressed to her own.

"Shut up, Kagome." Sesshoumaru told her through a crushing kiss.

Her eyes widen and her fangs became dainty again, her claws receding, and the red faded away. Kagome relaxed in his hold. "You... you kissed me." She whispered breathlessly.

"Only to calm you down. Smacking you around would have made things worse." Sesshoumaru responded dispassionately.

"Oh. Okay." Kagome responded.

When they reached the well, Kagome collapsed beside it's decrepit, concaved wall. Really, it was like an inclined chair. Sesshoumaru sat serenely beside her, studying her. She turned to him, half surprised to see his intent eyes on her.

She thought about how he had taken care of her and the utter kindness he had shown her, how he had surprised her with his other, more passionate, young side, how he had confined in her what he told no one else. She thought of the trust he put in her, giving her a purpose and a feeling that she was needed, and not just a pawn of fate.

Silently, she crawled into his lap and curled up, wrapping her arms about his torso. Her kimono hitched up to her hip, showing her entire right leg. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru." She looked up at him thankfully before resting her head comfortably on his chest. And so they sat there, together, in perfect, harmonic silence. Neither said a word as the day went on without them and they watched it pass them by, not really minding that concept. At least then they could just be there, together, without an intrusion.

Kagome's thoughts were mysteriously centered around the man holding her. He was so warm, and at some point, his tail had slipped itself underneath her so that she was laying comfortably on the fluff. She admitted her extreme attraction to him. In fact, he was the first man that she had ever been able to speak to without being judged.

'_You love him.' _This nagging thought had haunted her for the past few days, pushed back to the back of her mind. However, the thought was persistent, forever answering her questions with those three words. And when she would respond to it, the thought would merely repeat in her mind as if confirming it. And so, Kagome began to wonder whether it was true or not.

"_Do I truly love him? Or is it just an infatuation? Sesshoumaru? I thought him merely to be a friend."_

'_You love him.' _the words resonated in her head over and over again, the words that had purred her to sleep the past nights, had echoed their knowledge when she looked at him, when she blushed at the thought of him. Kagome mulled this over, until it all came together in that single moment, shining light brighter and warmer than the sun on her.

"_Yes, I love him."_

Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru who, comfortable with the silence, was staring off into the forest.

Sesshoumaru had realized his true feelings for Kagome a long time ago. He had been in love with her even before she became a demoness, though he hadn't admitted it, to even himself. But now, now that she was with him and a demoness, he had no problem admitting that he loved her. Of course, he knew that it would never pass his lips, this knowledge. However, it was good to know that the one he loved was so close and was on such good terms with him. He looked down at Kagome, who was staring up at him with eyes of deep oceanic blue. Yes, a very good thing.

"We should be heading back to the palace." He finally said, standing up with her still in his arms.

"It will be good to be home again." Kagome responded, Smiling up at him.

He did not return the smile, but the slight twitch of his mouth showed Kagome that he was pleased. _'Home. Yes.' _The word had a good ring to it. He formed his Youkai cloud and together the couple headed towards the palace.

_Home._

_-Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie_

_A fly can't bird but a bird can fly_

_Ask me a riddle and I reply:_

_Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie_

_Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie_

_A fish can't whistle and neither can I_

_Ask me a riddle and I reply:_

_Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie_

_Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie _

_Why does a chicken, I don't know why._

_Ask me a riddle and I reply:_

_Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie-_

_-The Tao of Pooh: Cottleston Pie_

Okay, sorry this one is a bit short, but it seemed like a great place to stop. So, give me the feed back. PLEHZ! Lol. Review… or whatever it is that you people do.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I'm just not that brilliant . . .

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 6

"Sesshoumaru! GUESS WHAT!" Kagome came speeding down the hall toward the slightly surprised Taiyoukai. It was as if she had not just been through four hours of rigorous, tiring training. "Rio said I can use my fans now!" She yelped happily as she pile-drove into Sesshoumaru, who smiled despite himself. Kagome wrapped her arms about his torso, as she had been doing often when she was happy, though she obviously had never placed her lips to his cheek, forever heeding his warning.

"Is that so? And why is that?" Sesshoumaru, in return, wrapped his arms around her as well, though less tightly. Soon, they were walking together with their arms about each other in a friendly manner.

"She said that I have improved so much that she thinks I will be able to handle them without hurting myself." She smiled brilliantly. Then, both of them heard the soft pitter patter of Rin's small feet coming toward them.

"Okaasan! Otousan!" Came her blissful cry. Rin had taken to calling them this, and neither of them seemed to mind. In fact, Kagome was able to somehow let go of her memories of the kitsune that had stolen her heart when Rin was there. She held out her free hand for Rin to take, seeing as how the girl was ten, and Sesshoumaru had forbidden everyone from picking her up.

Gladly, the girl did so, giggling as she grabbed hold of Kagome's hand. "How were your lessons, Rin-chan?" Kagome asked. She had Rin taking lessons in History and Language, as well as Arithmetic. Rin was ten and already had a mind that sought knowledge, and it seemed to Kagome that it would be a waste of such a beautiful mind if they did not explore what the girl could do.

"Really good, Okaasan." Rin answered enthusiastically. She seemed to struggle with her next sentence. "I- I can speak properly now!"

Kagome smiled brilliantly at her and said, "Yes, you can, Rin! I think you deserve a treat!" Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru, who had remained silent but whose eyes were glittering with pride. "Would you like to come, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked him, smiling at him in knowing.

"I suppose." He responded shortly, and Kagome half expected him to sigh and roll his eyes with his hand holding his chin on the heel.

"Good! On to the market!" Sesshoumaru seemed to groan. The last time they had gone to the market, Kagome had bought more kimonos than she could wear in a year and had gotten hit on by almost ten youkai . . . twice. And they had only gone to get tofu, courtesy of Kagome's need to feel important.

"We'll have lunch at that Sushi place that we couldn't go before." Kagome said, glaring up at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru returned the glare evenly. Kagome huffed and walked off with Rin attached at the arm. "We're going to go take a bath and get changed. We'll meet you in an hour at the entrance hall, ok?" Kagome called over her shoulder. She didn't wait for Sesshoumaru to answer before speeding of, earning a delighted squeal from Rin.

A disgruntled Sesshoumaru walked off in the opposite direction, vowing that he would not be at the entrance hall in an hour.

An hour later, Sesshoumaru was seen waiting for the two females in the entrance hall, looking extremely dark and tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. There was one thing he did not tolerate, and that was tardiness. However, he did not have to wait very long, for at the moment of his near breakdown, the delighting sound of laughter reached his ears, assaulting them with the melodious sound that could only belong to the two people who had managed to worm their way into his heart.

Kagome walked in with Rin in hand. She wore a navy, silver lined kimono and a black obi, which hung to her knees. Rin wore, instead of the customary one she always wore, a white kimono that came up to her knees, decorated in light blue sparrows, and a light blue obi. Really, how did Kagome do it? Sesshoumaru was wearing the same as he always did, including the armor.

Despite the fact that the armor pointed out ominously at her, Kagome glared at it ferociously, wanting it gone. It gleamed maliciously back at her. Finally, she shrugged and met Sesshoumaru's questioning gaze. Instead of humoring him, she ignored the silent question and said, "Shall we go, then?"

----------

" Tempura satsumaimo, for the little one." Kagome told the chef, a dragon youkai who was unabashedly looking her up and down. She scoffed at him. Then, kindly, she looked down at Rin. "Rin-chan, is there anything else you would like?"

Rin shook her head no. "No thank you, Okaasan. I love sweet potato tempura." She grinned at her proper use of grammar. After a moment of thought, she said, "Aren't you going to get something, Okaasan?"

Kagome smiled down at her and shook her head. "No, Rin-chan. I'm not getting anything. Sesshoumaru nearly killed me last time I came to the market with him. I have been put on probation. Nothing for myself unless he is with me."

Rin seemed to pout. "That meany. It's okay, Okaasan. I'll share with you!" Her face broke into a grin, unable to keep it in any longer. Laughing, Kagome turned to the chef to see if he had finished the tempura only to find him staring at her in total and utter shock.

"What is it?" She asked, a bit impatient with the man. "I hope you're paying attention to that tempura." She growled at him, baring her fangs a bit. What wonderful things, really.

"You-- Sesshoumaru-sama -- nearly killed?" He stuttered incoherently, paying no attention to her words. Something burning reached Kagome nostrils and she looked down at the tempura to see that he had burnt the whole mess. The horrible scent made her gag before she was pulled from under the roof by a strong hand. She looked up to see Sesshoumaru staring at her coldly.

She smiled sheepishly, but turned her attention to Rin, who was near tears at not getting her beloved tempura. She saw Sesshoumaru enter the small establishment out of the corner of her eyes. "It's all right, Rin-chan. Your Otousan will make everything okay and you will get your tempura." She hugged Rin.

This seemed to calm the girl and they turned just in time to see Sesshoumaru approach the vender. "What have you to say for yourself?" He said coldly, glaring at the cowering dragon.

"I-- I-- It . . . Gomenasai, Sesshoumaru-sama. I am at fault."

"That woman you were so disgustingly staring at is Lady Kagome of the Northern Lands, and that child whose food you have just ruined is my ward, Rin. You have disgraced yourself by disregarding these facts and questioning Lady Kagome's words which were not meant for you. You have until sunset today to get out of my kingdom."

With those final words, Sesshoumaru walked out of the small restaurant, beckoning for Kagome and Rin to follow. All the youkai around had heard what Sesshoumaru had said and stepped out of the way to bow to both him and Kagome, whose markings now made sense. Kagome took this new attention well enough, though she had paused once to make an elderly human man stand so that it would not ail his back, which was obviously unstable. He had gazed up at her with wizened, grateful eyes and bowed his head in respect.

However, along with the show of respect, gazes were fixed to her, causing her great discomfort. Some, the men's, were lustful and appreciative. Others, the women's, were envious and awed. Kagome unconsciously inched toward Sesshoumaru and gripped Rin's hand just a bit more. Rin seemed uncomfortable as well and clung to Kagome desperately. She looked around warily at the youkai surrounding them, wanting nothing more than to just hide.

It was like this for the rest of their outing. It seemed that within the amount of time it took Rin to eat her sweet potato tempura, the word had gotten around as to who was with Sesshoumaru and a few rumors were flying about a certain courtship that neither Sesshoumaru nor Kagome had known about.

However, both of them secretly wished for these rumors to be true.

Back at the castle, Rin had gone off to play with Rio, who had grumbled slightly but welcomed Rin with a smile. Rin, who had three hours of Kagome and Sesshoumaru, was happy to comply with their wishes for her to be elsewhere.

They walked to the garden, towards their favorite place of meditation and such. That small place of sanctuary, where they were never bothered and always at piece. It was where they met at night when either couldn't sleep, or when they had just decided to rise from the safety of their individual sheets and on a whim, came here. This was their spot.

The trek there was silent, as it always was, a brief time of companionship, pure and simple. When they sat down, they were facing each other, their expressions reading the same thing.

"Something's coming." They said in perfect synchronization.

"I can feel it coming."

"The air is still and moist."

"It's no ordinary rain."

"No, rage consumes it's being."

Realization hit Kagome like a large, flat, overwhelmingly obnoxious stone in the chest. "Sesshoumaru, it's a typhoon."

"How do you know this?"

"I recall learning something of a devastating typhoon around this time."

"I see."

"We must send messengers to the villages."

"I don't think that this action will be necessary. My kingdom has survive typhoons before."

"I think this one is different, Sesshoumaru." Her voice shook slightly and she stared at him with scared and anxious eyes.

"How so?"

Cocky bastard.

"Sesshoumaru, if I remember correctly, this is the day that you and your kingdom becomes a legend." She looked up at him, pleading him to believe her.

This hit him, and he stood up. Kagome stood with him, in control again. "Kagome, You will gather all residents of the palace together in the dojo. I will find messengers to warn my people." His voice was cold and even, the voice of a leader.

That was the first time she had ever heard him refer to them as _his people_, but she kept her head and nodded. "Yes, Sesshoumaru." She was about to shoot off, when Sesshoumaru stopped her.

"Kagome. Take Rin and do not let her out of your sight."

She nodded and bowed before sprinting off in the direction of the palace. As she passed servants in the garden, she ordered them, "Get to the Dojo at once, bring every one you see with you!" They looked a bit perplexed, but ran off as well, towards the dojo.

She immediately went to where she knew Rin and Rio were playing–the library. She shot inside and stopped, taking a moment to look at them together, and then made herself known. "Rio-san, Rin-chan!" they looked up quickly. "There is a typhoon coming! Rio, I want you to take six of your fastest and check every single room in this place, and tell everyone you see to immediately report to the dojo, orders of Sesshoumaru-sama." Rio nodded without hesitation and with a quick bow, shot out of the room. "Rin, you come with me. We are going to the dojo as well, and your otousan has ordered me not to let you out of my sight."

Rin's eyes were wide with fear as she nodded. Kagome hugged her warmly, reassuring her that all would be well. However, she was not so sure herself. "Come, Rin-chan." she knelt down for Rin to climb on her back. The child did so with a bit more of enthusiasm. "Hold on tight." She felt Rin's grip tighten on her, and she bolted out of the library, heading for the kitchen, where she knew Kaji would be.

"Kaji." She walked through the doors of the kitchen, where Kaji was quietly fixing a lunch for herself. "Kaji, you must go to the dojo immediately. Bring your lunch, but hurry, it's an emergency. Tell anyone you see to do the same." Kaji was surprised by Kagome's crispness, and nodded with a bow. Then grabbing her small sandwich, she scampered out of the kitchen. Kagome decided to make a round trip around the home to catch anyone that was not hiding away somewhere. "Ready Rin?"

"Yes, okaasan."

"Okay, hold on." Once again, the small grasp tightened.

They all were standing, restless and anxious. Rin's small arms clung to Sesshoumaru's pant leg while Jaken, the poor soul, found himself off somewhere at the other end of the dojo. Everyone knew where they were going; into the underground garden. Sesshoumaru's cultivation of darkness and magic.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome, his intensity sending subtle shivers down her spine. And then his gaze was gone, and she was left slightly chilled. Sesshoumaru suddenly flipped open a previously invisible door with his foot, and said, "Everybody in." And like obedient dogs, all the servants filed in together, silent but fidgety. Carefully he unwrapped Rin's hands from his leg and gave one of them to an elderly servant with kind eyes and wise lines on her face.

The woman bowed reverently and took a reluctant Rin down into the gardens with her. Rio went in last, giving Sesshoumaru a meaningful look. Soon, it was only He and Kagome standing in comfortable silence. They both knew that it was coming, could feel it's blind and powerful wrath building behind the deceptive silence and calm that always proceeds the storm.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru was striding towards the exit in quick, long steps. "Quickly, Kagome; we must prepare." His voice was cold and authoritative, unusual to Kagome now. However, she brushed off her unfamiliarity with this brusque side of him and nodded, hurrying after him.

They picked up pace, faster every second as he led her through hallways she didn't recognized, winding through strange and alien territory to an unknown destination. She could feel them going higher, the altitude changing the pressure in her head, her ears straining to cope with the new balance of inner and outer forces.

Finally, Sesshoumaru stopped at a dead end. A great golden drape decorated the massive, otherwise bare, stone wall. Kagome did not recognize it. With a simple flick of his wrist, Sesshoumaru sent the drape flying away to land on the floor with a great rustle of fabric accompanied by a desirable thump. Stones had been taken out of the wall in a orderly fashion, serving as a slightly primitive ladder to the top, where, Kagome notice, there was a trap door. However, she did not have much time to wonder over this as Sesshoumaru promptly began scaling the wall, quick and efficient.

She quickly took the initiative to follow, struggling to catch up to the speeding youkai. Sesshoumaru barely paused to open the trap door and soon had disappeared through the hole that shone murky light down on a slightly frazzled Kagome.

As soon as she had escaped the palace, she found herself on a solitary pillar, large and circular, with about a 5 meter diameter. The air around her was cool but wet and oppressive, coating her like a blanket. Sesshoumaru's face looked impassively at her, his mask in place, ready to fight whatever force was coming. She realized that this was the great pillar she had always wondered about but never really gotten around to asking about. And now she knew. It rose above all else on the kingdom, the perfect place to stand alone and solitary and yet be surrounded by all around you.

Sesshoumaru was standing rigid, gazing out at the horizon. Kagome stood next to him, and together they watched the great beats came for them, a cyclone of black and gray and white, all blending together in a monotonous tunnel of bleakness and destruction. Before that, sheets of mobile grey pounded down upon the earth, murdering all that is delicate, testing those who stood against it. The air thickened still, as if with a swipe of your hand, you could create a hole in the atmosphere, move the air particles away like floating sand.

Kagome suddenly knew what do do, enlightenment hitting her with all of it's force and brutality. As if She and Sesshoumaru were linked in some way, they simultaneously bowed their heads, brows furrowing in effort.

The sky was suddenly black and swirling above them, the storm making it's presence known. However, the darkness was broken up by an odd shimmering, transparent and nearly invisible to one who was not looking closely enough.

Kagome braced herself against a sudden weight on her shoulders. She could feel Sesshoumaru's power combine with her own as they constructed a shield around the palace. It was an odd sensation, but she could almost feel the wind of the outside world around them whipping furiously at the strengthening shielding, trying desperately to breach it's now thickening shimmer.

She could feel rain pelt against her flesh, but she dared not look to see if it was real, or an illusion. Sesshoumaru's aura mingled with her own and kept her standing. She knew that the entire storm had not yet even touched them, this was just the storm that preceded it, as the silence and heavy stillness had preceded this storm. They both knew that if they wanted to stand a chance, the shield would have to be stronger. Kagome focused on a solid wall of magic between the palace and the typhoon, a solid and indestructible wall.

Even as the shield strengthened, so did the storm, taking it's own shape and chaotic order. The two concentrated. Kagome could feel Sesshoumaru's power feed off hers as she fed off his, each using the other to bind and tie them together in an unrelenting knot. "Sesshoumaru." Kagome whispered as the typhoon was suddenly upon them.

She fell to her knees, grasping her head in her shaking fingers, pressure was building in her body, in her soul. It wanted free, wanted to be released at the storm with all of it's fury. Kagome struggled to reign in the power. A solitary figure stood beside her, became her focus. Carefully, she pulled out the power a piece at a time to use in the construction of the wall that was trying to crumble.

"Kagome, do not quit yet." She heard him say, felt his hand on hers. He was holding her head with her hands, helping her bring out the power. The pressure receded slightly.

And then the full brunt of the typhoon was upon them and she could feel it beating against her flesh, whipping at her, scarring her with wind that never touch her and chilling her skin with rain that never fell upon her. She felt the typhoon spinning around her, upon her, along her spine, looking for a seam, searching for a way into her body, into her soul. And she knew that this could not happen, that she could not allow this to happen.

She braced herself against it, using her entire being to protect what she loved. The world turned black, and she was alone, holding something that was not there away from herself, and then even that was gone, and she was no longer aware of the storm, or the pressure, or of Sesshoumaru holding her tightly against his body. Only darkness. Sweet, tumultuous darkness. Never still, always moving, but hiding that movement so well that stillness was all that was there.

As awareness crept from her being, she had one thought; _"Sesshoumaru..."_

_-The lioness protected_ _fiercely _

_that which she loved_

_Her child that she called hers_

_growling at whatever passed_

"_leave my babe alone" _

_said she_

_and then she moved, _

_and stumbling on legs too long_

_for it's body_

_a small and spindly antelope_

_fell upon it's knees next to it's mother_-

Alright! Chapter 6! I have a game for you guys. The winner/s get to help me decide a major decision concerning my story and will be given the preview of the chapter when I am finished with it. Probably chapter eight or nine. And all you have to do is guess correctly. Alright, here's the question: Based on my writing, how old do you think I am? It was a friend of mine's idea. I decided, what the hell... it's all good. Okay, have fun!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: sob

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 7

**Kagome's POV**

_I am dreaming... No. It's not a Dream. It is a memory. I am in my Grade 7 history classroom. I am fourteen, a year before Inuyasha. Hojo is smiling at me from behind his textbook, and I am smiling back, waving. My three friends come over. What are their names? They smile knowingly at me and giggle. _

"_Kagome, Hojo is going to ask you out today!" The shortest of them says. Her voice is annoying. "I heard him prepping while he was walking out of the boys bathroom." She giggles in a high pitched whinny. I vaguely wonder what she had been doing outside the boys bathroom in the first place. _

_And then I remember. This is the day that I learn of Sesshoumaru and his doomed kingdom. The teacher enters and we all sit down and open our books to a page I don't really pay attention to. It's just a number, after all. And there is a black and white picture of his ruined home, and a portrait of him, strong and cold and beautiful. I think that he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen. _

_And then all goes black, and I am left crying because I was there, and I could not help him. And then I am remembering again. But this is an alien memory that I do not know._

_Hojo is smiling at me from behind his textbook, and I am smiling back, waving. My three friends come over. What are their names? They smile knowingly at me and giggle. _

"_Kagome, Hojo is going to ask you out today!" The shortest of them says. Her voice is annoying. "I heard him prepping while he was walking out of the boys bathroom." She giggles in a high pitched whinny. I vaguely wonder what she had been doing outside the boys bathroom in the first place. _

_And then the teacher comes in and we all sit down and open our books to a page I don't really pay attention to. It's just a number after all. _

_On the page are two portraits with a caption underneath. I am not paying attention to the teacher as he reads the caption. I am staring at the pictures. One is of a great lord named Sesshoumaru something or other, and the other is of a woman, unnamed. Her eyes are shadowed but could not have been black, and her hair is long and black. "Kagome!" The tallest of my friends whispers. "That woman looks just like you!" I smile and nod and turn my attention to the teacher. _

_He is saying that the woman saved the mans kingdom somehow from being destroyed in an otherwise devastating tsunami. _

_After class, my friends are still talking about them. "Kagome! Do you think you are her descendant or something?" I shrug. "Why do you think they had those odd markings on their cheeks and stuff? You'd think they were trying to make themselves out to be demons or something." They laugh. It's so annoying. _

Kagome awoke suddenly, sweat dripping from her face in rivulets of shining liquid. Her eyes were wide and fearful, and she frantically searched around the alien room. She was in a fluffy, large, silk laden futon. All around her was impenetrable darkness that even her demonic eyes could not see through. That meant that there was no light at all, that she was trapped somewhere. A panicking feeling swept over her. She didn't like not being able to see.

And then a whiff of something kept her head still. That smell... it was Sesshoumaru's scent. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The air was permeated with his scent. It filled her nostrils and sedated her immediately. She smiled and fell back down into a downy softness she didn't recognize. However, it wreaked of Sesshoumaru and she curled into it instinctively, wondering faintly why she had had that impulse. However, she didn't dwell on it long and nuzzled the source of warmness.

And then a movement beside her caught her attention. A shifting beside her. She froze as she felt hands run along a part of her body she hadn't known was there. It felt good, and she suddenly knew why Sesshoumaru couldn't stand it when she stroked his tail. It felt so good, she had some very naughty thoughts concerning whoever it was beside her. However, the realization that someone _was _beside her and she didn't know who it was kind of scared her.

Finally, after a moment of thought, she put two and two together and blushed profusely. It was a very good thing the darkness was as thick as it was. She made a move to get up, thinking that Sesshoumaru couldn't possible know it was her. I mean, she hadn't had a tail before, and she had definitely never been inside his room. She'd probably sleepwalked. He's just having a dream. She wasn't here on purpose right? Wrong.

The second she twitched in that way you do when your muscles aren't used to movement and you are about to climb out of bed, a growl emitted from beside her and the arm that had been playing with her tail (it was still weird to think about) wrapped around her waist and held her down firmly. "Don't move." Sesshoumaru's voice sounded husky and sleep induced. Like he had just had sex or something.

Kagome gasped and looked down, realizing that it was too dark to see anyway. However, she could feel cloth sliding along her body as he slid his arm into a more comfortable position. She decided that if he could have a sexy voice, so could she. She trailed her fingers up his arms and to his neck, finding his ear so that she could whisper into it, "Why not?" She let her lips brush the tip of his pointed ear and felt him shiver.

Inevitably, she was flipped onto her back, and the fluffy was goneShe could smell him close to her, fell his cheek resting against her own. "Because you're warm," He let his body rest lightly in hers. She could tell he didn't have his haori on. "And I'm warm," she could feel him grinning. "And we're both very," He nuzzled her neck like an affectionate puppy, "very, cold."

Kagome could feel his youkai within growing, stretching, awakening. Inside herself as well, she could feel her own waking up, yearning for carnal blood and gore and pleasure. She found her fingers entwining themselves into Sesshoumaru's hair, stroking through it with claws that were longer than they should have been. His hands were wondering along her body, under the cloth, feeling her skin, kneading it with smooth, strong hands.

Sesshoumaru was still nuzzling her, still taking deep breathes of her. It tickled, and she had to laugh. This was her fantasy dream come true. She was in the same bed as him, in complete darkness, and he was showing extreme affections for her. And he had no shirt on. author is drooling

He began whining like a pup, and she could feel his golden eyes on her. And then all of a sudden it all stopped. His youkai withdrew and he rose away from her. "What is it?" Now _she_ sounded like a puppy. She was still a little dazed and she raised from her back to her knees in practiced grace, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Her tale swished from side to side.

Suddenly a curtain was open and Sesshoumaru was standing beside it, his eyes bleeding away from red to white. Her eyes widened and she closed her own eyes, willing away whatever was there. "Oh Kami. Oh Kami." She curled up into a ball and hugged herself. Then she noticed that she was wearing a yukata. A very thin, very flimsy yukata. Immediately she shot up to glare at Sesshoumaru, who was staring at her with a something in his eyes.

It was disgust.

"What?" She was blushing now, squirming under his scornful scrutiny. "What is it?" No darkness to hide the inflammation on her face now.

He shook his head and the mask she had so carefully chipped away was there again. "Do not speak to me, bitch." And he walked out.

She was crying when she woke up.

A sharp pain ran through her entire being. This time she knew that she was awake. She shifted. Oh yeah, definitely awake. She thought of her dream, the tears drying on her cheeks. It was only a dream. Only a dream. Sesshoumaru would never say those things to her. He wouldn't even have been there in the first place. No worries, then.

Kagome lay back, her eyes still closed, still unharmed by whatever bright light might be waiting behind them. Something twitched underneath her, and she gasped, eyes opening wide. It was pitch black. She knew what it was that was twitching underneath her suddenly. She felt her body, she was wearing a yukata. She felt around her; she was on a fluffy futon.

However, there was no fluffy to curl into and no one beside her. She was only slightly comforted by this fact. She still had a tail and she was still in complete darkness. She knew that Kouga and Ayame and Sesshoumaru had tails, but she had never had one as a child, and she wasn't expecting to have one now.

Once again she attempted to move, and hissed when the pain shot through the length of her body. She froze when a growl emitted from a few feet beside her. "Don't move." It was Sesshoumaru, but his voice wasn't husky with sleep. More, it was possessive, protective, worried.

"Why not?" She responded, and it wasn't the same either. Her voice sounded strange, alien.

"Because you are hurt."

Duh. "Why is it so dark?"

"Demons heal easiest in the darkness." Talkative today, wasn't he?

"Oh." A thought struck her. "Is everyone alright, Sesshoumaru?" It sounded earnest and worried.

"Yes, everyone has come away unscathed," she heard the rustling of cloth and his scent overwhelmed her. "Because of you," he trailed along her cheek with his claw. And then it was gone, his scent retreated.

"Wait." Kagome could feel him retreating away, then stop at her voice. "Please don't leave me alone."

He continued to walk away. She became desperate; he had done this in the dream; walked away from her. She tried to move to reach in the darkness, then gasped softly at the pain it brought her. She narrowed her eyes at the pain and moved further. She was going to cry, she knew it. _"Heal, dammit. HEAL!" _She thought to herself. It was annoying not being able to move. Then everything was bathed in a bright light, bluish in color, and the pain went away. She was left in darkness again.

"HA!" She cried in triumph. However, she didn't feel Sesshoumaru's movement. "Sesshoumaru?" She was scared again. She didn't want to be left alone in this darkness again. "Sesshoumaru!" She was crying now, frightened and out of sorts without him there. Why?

A lit candle suddenly found her on her knees, tail twitching frantically, eyes wide with tears seeping from them. Sesshoumaru's mask was placed carefully on his face as he looked impassively at her.

"You have healed yourself." He wasn't impressed. She didn't care. It worked out.

"Yeah." She looked down and then back up at him. "You were going to leave me alone."

"Yes."

"I'm afraid of the dark."

"I know." And then the candle was out, and she was left in the darkness again.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes." He was closer. She rose and leaped from the futon. Something in his voice scared her. It was predatory, possessive, lusty.

"How long have I been unconscious?" She backed up into something; it made a scuffing sound.

"Two days." She felt his aura come closer, could smell him. It was spiked with something; something she had never smelled before.

"And who dressed me?"

There was a pause, and she crept away from the scent, feeling objects softly, silently, barely touching them. "I did."

She froze. He dressed her? That pervert. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to tear him to shreds. In the darkness, she could feel her eyes bleed red, and she let it. For one reason or another, she let herself become ruthless, murderous, demonic. "Bastard." She growled and lunged at him, at his aura, at his heart. He caught her in his arms and crushed her against him, disabling her totally.

He was stronger than her, and she accepted that, but she would not be overwhelmed by his calming scent once again. She needed release, she needed freedom, she needed blood. She caught a whiff of the outside, clear and crisp and calling to her. She somehow broke free of Sesshoumaru's hold and lunged for the scent. He didn't stop her.

She broke out into a clear night, the waning moon smiling down at her like a Cheshire cat. She hated cats. She was on a balcony, and cool air swiped her face, cooling the sweat on her brow. Looking down, she knew there was no way down but to jump; there was a high growing tree near her, but it was too slow. She leapt over the edge of the balcony, falling freely, unworried as to what would happen when she hit rock bottom.

She hit the ground running, yukata flying out behind her like a silken cape. It was so bothersome. She ripped it from her body. She flew on the ground, naked skin glowing in the pure moonlight, hair billowing in the remaining current caused by her form. Freedom embraced her to it's bosom and calmed her wild spirit. But it wasn't enough. She needed more than just freedom, she needed release, she needed blood. Needed to bathe in it, soak it into herself, drink it until she was swelling with the warm substance, drunken with it.

The need grew inside her, thrusting away freedom's embrace. She was angry with Sesshoumaru for invoking unwanted feelings inside her: she wanted to relieve herself of the pressure building inside her that yearned for his touch, for him to fill her, for him himself. She began to sniff, sensing for victim.

When she found it, she grinned wildly. It was a snake youkai, young but strong. She crept up upon it, and stopped for a second. It was attractive as well. He had reached semi-human form, with a human body, but scales were covering his entire back, creeping up his neck and over a bald scalp. He had broad shoulders, with a long, muscular body and a strong jaw. He was also naked. Yay.

Softly, she walked up to about ten feet from him, watching him watch her the entire time. Her eyes were completely red, and all she saw was an attractive youkai that she could use to release in more ways than one.

She watched him stalk towards her. Lust was evident in his eyes as they roamed over her form. She let her eyes wander as well, enjoying the sight of a male specimen without any clothes or qualms. She met him in the middle, and she could smell him, and he could taste her. He circled her, tasting the air around her, searching for deception. She could smell it, but the spiked scent wasn't the only thing that told her of his aroused state.

Finally, he stopped in front of her, meeting her eyes with lime green pupils. There was a wariness in them, but also a strong want for her, and she smiled inside because of it. In a fluid step, she pressed her naked body against his and breathed in his natural, nondescript scent. She could feel sweat on his skin, could hear his breath become ragged, could smell his loss of control.

"Take me now." She whispered into his ear, not caring any more. She wanted it to be gone. He pressed her up against a tree, shaking. And he took her, hard and uncontrolled. The rough tree bark scraped up against her back, and she reveled in the pain, in the unknown man thrusting forcefully into her. But there was no pleasure, no relief, just pain.

She was suddenly disgusted with him. Because he had no control, because he was too eager, because he wasn't Sesshoumaru. She pushed him away. "Get away from me, you wretch. Do you not have more control than that. Can you not restrain yourself? You disgust me!" She tore into him.

Swipe after swipe of her claws, relishing in his screams, wanting to cause him more pain. When he was not moving any longer, she knelt down and licked away the blood from him, cleaning his ragged body. She licked her claws and any other part of her body that she had bathed in blood. Her eyes closed and flitted in a high ecstasy-like state.

When it was gone, she wanted more. More violence, more gore, more sex. She began to sniff again, but the stench of blood filled her senses, and she was thrown into another fit of want. She was about to bound off back into the forest when his aura surrounded her. She fought it with her own, wanting to get him away from her. It relented, but she was suddenly encased in a pair of naked arms, pressed against a naked chest.

"Get away from me, bastard."

"No."

"I'll tear you to shreds!" Kagome screamed at him, pounding his chest with clawed hands. His skin turned into bloody ribbons of flesh, the blood showing black in the moonlight. She could feel the warm fluid streaming down in between them, caressing her with it's dark carnage. Sesshoumaru made no noise as she made good of her promise to tear him to shreds.

Suddenly she stopped, and stared lustily at the blood. Warm and dark and thick, running down his ruined, perfect chest.

"I know what you want, Kagome," Sesshoumaru hissed in her ear. "You want my blood, you want my body."

"No," She responded softly. But she didn't sound convinced. The blood was running less and less as he healed and what was left was becoming cold and dry.

"You want me, Kagome."

"No." She watched forlornly as the last tear in his flesh closed, up. A last, warm drop of blood escaped from the wound as the flesh knitted together. She caught it with her tongue. Her eyes flashed a renewed red, and she stared defiantly up at him. "It is you who wants me, my dog-man." She slipped easily from his grasp. Hiding her fear, she batted her eyelashes. "Catch me if you can."

Once she was running again, the need for carnal pleasure took over her again, and she knew to make him wait, and make her self wait, would prove all the more bloody. She grinned viciously and sped up. The longer they waited, the hotter the blood, the sweeter the taste, the better the smell. She could feel his breath on her neck, raising the hairs, could feel him pressed against her naked body, and she spurred herself into faster movement.

The wind caressed her bare flesh like a lover, carrying her up and away from herself, distancing herself from what was happening. Running through the woods was not a physical thing, as humans always assumed. It was melding with the trees, feeling them, selling them, knowing them. It was an intimation with nature, a game in which only those who gave themselves over to the forest could play.

And Kagome was winning.

It was then that she realized that didn't want to be caught my Sesshoumaru. His embrace could only offer limitation and confinement. She did not want to be restrained by him, she did not want to be his lifeless puppet to show off to the other lords. She did not want to dress in fancy clothes and wear her hair up all the time and cook for her lord and do all those things that a good mate is supposed to do. She did not want those things.

She needed exemption, freedom. She wanted to be naked and wild and have no restraints to hold her down. She wanted to kill and fight and be alive. She wanted to damn all the lords to hell, and their ladies too. She wanted to leave her hair down and eat raw meat, freshly killed by her own claws. Kimono's were annoying and her beauty was not in what she wore. She knew it, that snake youkai had known it. But he was dead. She had killed him. And she felt no remorse.

She ran faster. She would not be caught and mated. He might as well been chasing her to kill.

"Kagome..." His breath was normal and hers was ragged. How long had they been running? "Give up, Kagome. I will have you."

"No! I will not be imprisoned! I want to stay out here."

"Than we will stay out here."

"I want to stay free!" She couldn't sense him. She could smell him, though. He was all around. "Leave me alone!"

"You will remain free."

"No I won't! You are lying!"

"No, I'm not. You are lying to yourself."

"Come out here! Stop hiding!" She was enraged by his teasing, by his cryptic answers. By the fact that she didn't want to kill him, that she wanted him and his blood and his body. Everything from him but his death. "God Dammit! Come out!" She screamed.

Suddenly she was thrown against a tree, feeling it splinter against her bare flesh. She grinned. She would kill him, and these feelings would go away. She stood.

Sesshoumaru stared at the demoness standing before him, untamed and raw like the wind of a typhoon, beautiful like the sunset after a storm. Marks glistened against her alabaster skin as she gave off energy and power. Her hair fell wild and unruly around her shoulders, untouched by leaves and twigs but tangles. She stood proud and feral in front of him, in her nude glory, unhindered by her state of undress.

Her eyes were a ferocious, burning red, glaring at him, saying, "you will not have me."

At that moment, Sesshoumaru wanted her more than her had ever wanted her before. He stalked towards her.

Kagome glared at him, eyeing him suspiciously. Lust for her was showing in his eyes and it scared her. She wanted to run, but she wanted his blood more. She wanted him to bleed so that she could lick the blood off of his utterly masculine body, feel his flesh slick with the fluid. She met him in the middle.

She swiped at him first, disappointed when he dodged it and did nothing to retaliate. "What's wrong, dog? Afraid to hurt me?" She sneered and caught him in the chin, drawing blood with her claws. "Fight me!"

He nodded once. Suddenly she was caught in a blur of motion that she could barely see. A claw found it's way to her stomach and blood poured from it for a few seconds before the initial bleeding stopped. She jumped high in the air, tail twitching, eyes searching for the blur that was Sesshoumaru. Kagome landed on his back, clawing at it as he tried to pry her off.

Finally, she jumped from his tattered back, licking her claws delicately, watching mournfully as the wounds turned to scratches, then scars, then disappeared completely. It cost her the seconds that she had been given, and she soon found herself crushed against the ground, a root grinding painfully into her back. She growled savagely.

However, instead of feeling the pain that she knew had been coming, she realized that Sesshoumaru had offered her his neck. Without hesitation, she sought out his pulse, licking it lightly, feeling it flutter against the skin, against her tongue. She trailed her tongue down to the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and bit down.

Blood filled her mouth, hot and thick and satisfying. At first, she drank it fiercely, sucking at the wound in earnest. As the blood filled her with warmness, she began to suckle gently at it, finally just licking it. She was warm and safe underneath Sesshoumaru and all she wanted to do was sleep. Curl up underneath him and imbibe his warmth and trust him to keep her safe.

When she was asleep, Sesshoumaru carefully picked her up and took her back to the palace, where he placed her in her own futon, naked except for the blood, and curled up beside the bed to fall asleep himself. _Home..._

How was that for some action, eh? I wanted to bring out the fact that they are demons with animalistic qualities, not just people with super strength and speed. They aren't super heroes. No matter what everybody may want to think, they are carnal animals with carnal needs, and this chapter was centered around that. I think it turned out well enough. I would especially like feedback on this chapter. PLEASE!


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: You know what... I've said this seven times already and this is the last time. I don't own them!

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 8

Kagome woke up in a softness and warmth that she had only known in forgotten dreams. She felt full, complete, satisfied. A purr escaped her throat as she snuggled deeper into the sheets that so completely entrapped her. In a fuzzy haze of awareness, she faintly recognized a sleeping presence off to the side of her, but she payed no attention. It was sleeping and no threat as of yet.

She suddenly remembered the events of the night before, and it all came crashing down on her like an angry wave hoping tosmash all of her bones into little fragments that bit into her skin and broke open her vital organs. However, strangely enough, her bones were not broken, and the wave did not even sway her. Instead she basked in it's coolness, allowing it to grovel at her feet, gently caress her legs with it's cooling water.

It mildly worried her that she was not bothered by the fact that she had let a strange youkai do what he had done, or what she had done to him afterwards, nor what she had done to Sesshoumaru... Wait. Sesshoumaru.

Had she harmed him? She couldn't remember. It was all a haze of bloodlust and violence, a memory of small fragments that came to her mixed up like a jigsaw puzzle that had a whole bunch of missing pieces. She jumped from her bed hurriedly, looking around, getting a grip on her surroundings. She was in her room. How had she got there? The answer came in form of a curled up youkai beside her futon with silver hair and nothing but a torn up pair of hakama in the way of clothing.

She smiled with relief, and only then did she realize the cool air touching every inch of skin on her body. Without looking, she knew that she was naked, and with the help of her nose, she knew that she was covered in blood. She opted for a bath, and taking into consideration the fact that she did, in fact, have a tail, she brought extra soap. Before heading for the hot springs with a clean yukata hanging on her arm, she knelt beside Sesshoumaru and very lightly nipped at his exposed ear. "Thank you," she whispered softly, and left with a little lick to clean the small wounds she had given him. She didn't stop to think about what she had just done. It felt very natural to be licking and biting him, so she did it, no questions asked.

In the hot waters of the spring, she contemplated what had happened to her the night before, what she had done, how she had reacted to Sesshoumaru, how she had reacted to his blood. After clearly thinking about it, she was mildly horrified. She had willingly had intercourse with a strange male, then she had happily tore him to pieces and drank his blood. And then she had attacked Sesshoumaru repeatedly, intending to do to him what she had to the former. The thought disgusted her now, but she knew that it was her nature, to want and crave blood and sex in the same sentence, to have needs that she had never had before.

She was not at peace with this. She knew that there was no way to change it. It was what she was, who she was, and she was a monster. She was the horrible something that children feared were underneath their beds. She was a beast, a monstrous thing that did not belong on this world. She pushed her head underwater and shook it vigorously.

She suddenly had a revelation. She looked up at the wall, eyes burning with a new knowledge. It was not she that was the monster. No, she was an animal. Not a monster. The monster was Inuyasha. He was neither human nor animal, neither god nor demon. He was a monster; a terrible, rude, selfish monster.

No, she shook her head and tears streamed down her porcelain face. He wasn't a monster. She knew that. He was kind and gentle when he had wanted to be, and protective and sweet and had chosen her over someone he had loved far longer. It was she that had left him alone when he had given up everything for her, erasing his memory, taking the few people that had really accepted him for what he was. She had left him feeling like a monstrosity, and for that she was the true monster.

In the dim, humid enclosure, Kagome curled into a ball and wept. She wept for Inuyasha, she wept for Sesshoumaru, she wept for Rin. Tears fell for her families, both in the future and not, and for the friends that had been lost. She did not cry for herself. Thoughts of anyone but herself entered her distraught mind, bringing sorrow and grief into her soul; her dirty, sinful, ruined soul.

When all tears had been drained from her being, Kagome rose from the water baptized, cleansed of all that had plagued her. A great fear and loathing oozed from her being, even as her face took on a phlegmatic expression, framed by mist that would forever descend on her heart.

Kagome left no sign of her departure, except for a white morning glory, already wilting in the day.

Kagome didn't know where she was going. She didn't know why she was leaving Sesshoumaru. She didn't know what it was she was seeking. She didn't know how she would survive alone. She didn't know what she would do without the company she had grown accustomed to.

She knew that she had to leave. She knew that she was scared. She knew that she loved him. She knew that she feared that loved. She knew that she was seeking answers, and they were not to be found in long afternoons in the garden and nights of wonderful companionship. She knew that her messengers would not come until she had fulfilled her destiny, and that destiny was still left only half full.

She took a deep gulps of misty morning air and plunged into the gray future that awaited her.

OMG guys I'm so sorry this took so long! But I couldn't decide on what would happen next and I went through several full chapters before deciding on this. And I have been so busy! I have lacrosse everyday and now I've taken up surfing so my brother takes me out every weekend with him and his very attractive friends, and lacrosse games get me home so late and everything's been so stressful! And I'm sorry its so very short! I promise the next one will be longer! You don't have to review. I don't deserve it!


	10. Chapter 9

Moonlit Lives

Chapter 9

Sesshoumaru awoke with a deep pit in his stomach, as if something was missing, as if something had been carefully pulled from him as he slept in a wakeless state. Immediately he sat up, earning a throb in his head as the blood rushed down, leaving cells aching without it. He looked around and noticed that he was in Kagome's room, vacant of that which owned it.

Immediately he was on his feet, his hair flowing around him in a wave of disgruntled silver, searching every corner of the room for her. Her smell was everywhere, so he could not tell where she might have gone. By where the sun was in the sky, in wasn't far from noon in the day. He crept to the futon, hoping that perhaps she was still curled up in the sheets and he had not noticed her by some lapse of vision. He had never before hoped for such imperfection on his part.

But, as usual, he had been right. Her imprint was still there, but fading slowly, and he knew that she had not been there for at least four hours. He was not yet panicking. She could have possibly already taken a bath and was playing with Rin.

He checked the garden, and saw Rin's small grinning face poking through the bushes as a strangled cry rang out to Sesshoumaru's right. There was no need to look. It was Jaken, caught again by the never failing trap that Rin always set up for him. He took a sniff. Kagome was not here.

He headed for the small lake that he and Kagome both were so fond of. Before he got there he knew that she was not there. However, he checked anyway, and was rewarded with a silent lake, void of any life but that of the running water. And even that seemed sluggish today, caught in a state of transcendence to its oblivious destination. Sesshoumaru turned away from its obvious, undisturbed bliss and began to walk away when something caught the corner of his eye.

He looked to the ground to find a wilting morning glory right beside the stream. Despite its withered and tired appearance, the deep purple color contrasted starkly with the gray rock that suddenly seemed sullen and empty without the presence of Kagome. He picked up the flower, and suddenly remembered something Kagome had told him on one of their walks.

_-flash back-_

"_You know, the morning glory was always my favorite flower," Kagome commented as she lovingly cradled a flower that had been snapped off from it's bush, its nourishment. _

"_Why is that," asked Sesshoumaru, touching a purple morning glory as he asked. _

"_Because it's what my father would leave my mother when he had to go off to council or even just to survey the lands. It was a sort of hope that just as the flower wilts and dulls every day as the sun reaches noon, so would the pain of losing him if he should ever be unable to return." She looked up at him and smiled. "Thankfully, the flowers that he gave her never wilted until he came back."_

_-end flash back-_

Something clicked inside his brain and a phase of vertigo shuddered through his body. The wilted flower lay sad and forbidding in his open palm and he resisted the urge to crush the delicate thing. She was gone, and she wasn't planning on coming back.

He stared down at the small thing, at the message she had left him, at this damning object that was the source of his anguish yet so precious to him.

For the first time in his adult life, Sesshoumaru allowed a stream of tears to run down his cheeks, wetting them until they glistened in the suddenly frigid afternoon air. Rain began to fall, warm, but frigid at the same time.

The rain continued to fall for days, and even after it ended, the skies were gray and foreboding. Thunder rumbled menacingly at children brave enough to venture out of their homes. Lightning flashed across the sky in an angry and erotic dance that seemed to want to rid itself of a depression that had set itself within the clouds that forever coated the sky.

And everyone in the Western lands knew that the great lord was upset, and that the wrath of a demon lord would soon be upon them.

She was running for all of her life to get somewhere, following her feet to where she had always longed to be. Her home.

Kagome was greeted by a large crowd of Youkai, all gaping at her, knowing that she had come back. As she walked through the village, Kagome smiled at the youkai, nodding to the old men and smiling brightly for the pups. She noticed that all the youkai here were wolf youkai, wondering if the other villages were like this. This one village was the royal village, that stood in front of Mount Hiei. Her father's castle was up the mountain a bit, making the traveler walk up a steep hill in order to reach the home. Around it was a magic spell, disabling flight of any kind within a half mile of the entire mountain. It was an effective defense system.

Rarely had an opposing force traveled up that mountainside, a near sheer climb, and had enough strength to defeat his exquisitely trained soldiers. In fact, it had never before happened. The Inu-clan, the only army who could possibly make it up the mountainside and have energy to spare, had never had a reason to challenge the wolves, and so it had never been tested on them. However, Kagome did not have to scale the side, instead entering through a secret passage that was hidden in a large, empty looking cave around the side of the mountain.

This was the only way into the castle, other than up the mountain, and it was a secret. It was one of the reasons that very few entered, and even fewer came back out.

Kagome, now escorted by an excited young maid, made her way through the passage, the knowledge quickly coming back to Kagome, breezing through her mind in an exhilarating way.

For the first time, she smiled, truly smiled, happy to be home. They went through a series of passages that Kagome found to be familiar, finally reaching a grand shoji door, signifying the entrance hall was just a few feet away.

A sudden anticipation took over her, and she found it hard to restrain herself from shredding the rice paper to bits. Finally, the soft maiden opened the shoji door, ready to announce Kagome. However, before she did, she told kagome softly, "I must warned you, my lady, things are not as they were when you left." She paused, searching Kagome's face as if it would hold the words she was groping for. "Your father... he is...well, he is not the same."

And with that, she knocked on the shoji door's wooden framing timidly and waited for a gruff response to come from the other end. "Come in, Hari. Who is it you have brought with you?" Kagome recognized the voice, and even though it sounded more rough and more slurred than she remembered, she knew that it was her father.

"Father?" She said excitedly, opening the shoji door. "Father, I'm..." She stopped, half gagging on the pungent smell that had been released upon her being like a great wave of smoke that clogged the senses and left an animal barely breathing and defenseless. However, this smoke was clear and it smelled like sake.

Kagome gasped, taking in a deep gulp of the tainted air, and choked upon it's impure stench. Sitting there, in a wrinkled and unfriendly smelling kimono, was her father. Unshaven and ungroomed, looking more like a scrounging wolf than a high taiyoukai. His once crystal blue eyes were bloodshot and smoky, unclear in a sense that they seemed unable to remain focused on anything for a semi-extensive period of time. His once starkly black hair was streaked with grey, greasy and unhealthy from lack of wash.

Kagome stood there for a moment to take it all in, until he unstable eyes met hers and what seemed like recognition flashed across them. However, as soon as it had come, it was gone, and the drunken eyes narrowed as their owner said, "Who are you?"

"Father," Kagome took a step forward, an overwhelming pity for this man taking over, "it's me, Kagome. Don't you remember me?" tears gathered in her eyes when he growled, and she stopped moving.

"You have finally decided to come back. After this long wait, you decide to come back now?" He was angry, and his accusing tone made Kagome angry as well.

"You were the one that gave me away to a human family in the first place, father." She sat and stared evenly at him.

"You stayed away as long as possible! You didn't want to come back! Why now, _daughter_," he sneered the word, "what has brought you back to your own kind? Did the dog king prove to be as useless and stupid as his father?"

Kagome wasn't angry anymore, she was hurt. "Father, " she stared at him with wide eyes full of tears, "please don't say that about Sesshoumaru. He doesn't deserve it."

"What? Why are you so protective of him? I heard about your _interactions_ with him at market, how you saved his kingdom from that tsunami." He looked, really looked, at Kagome for the first time. At her sincere, hurt face, at the tears streaming down her porcelain face, at her parts moth, and realization came crashing down on him like a lightning struck tree with no force but its own grinding him into the dirt. "You wanted to marry him. You actually wished to become his mate."

Kagome's eyes widened impossibly wider, and she blushed, looking down at the grainy wood.

Her father began to laugh, a deep, bellowing sound, a mocking sound. "Ha! As if he would ever take a _wolf _to his bed! Of course, his father _did _take a human bitch... I suppose there's the possibility. But it would never happen, even if he _did _want you." His smile was sinister and dark, not the father she remembered at all.

"And why is that?" She was not crying anymore, but she was confused and hurt by her father.

"Why, because you're already betrothed." He said it off handedly, as if it didn't matter whether she agreed or not. "You've been betrothed since you were merely a year old."

Kagome was in shock, the kind of shock that closes your throat and constricts your breathing, blocks your mind, makes it hard to think, makes it impossible to speak.

"Now be gone, you have a ball to attend this night, and you will be meeting your future mate. Now, go!"

Because of her numbness, Kagome had to be carried off by several servants, taken to a room she didn't recognize or care about. When the servants looked at her, she seemed despondent, lost in cloudy thoughts of dread and sadness. She looked pale and wane, unable to move on her own. She looked utterly defeated. On their way out, one of the servants, an older youkai with streaks of grey in her hair, patted her shoulder , and with a look of sympathy, left with the others.

But on the inside, Sesshoumaru's influence was taking control of her thoughts. She was slowly and effectively molding a plan in her mind, a plan of escape. She maintained her defeated look outside, and even allowed a few sobs to escape her. Not once did anyone passing by guess that the overcome youkai in the small room surrounded by guards was smiling inside, and while her hands were inside the folds of her kimono, they were fingering two bladed fans, comforting her in a way no one's hug or kiss could.

"_If you do not smile and act as if you are joyful, I will beat you."_

Kagome smiled brightly as she glided into the center of the room with her father. Her smile was genuine, if a little cold. All surrounding youkai moved away, reverence showing clearly in their eyes. And why should their eyes have betrayed anything but awe? Lady Kagome of the wolf clan was most undisputably a vision.

Her kimono was white, with stark red patterns embroidered into the shining fabric. Her obi was white as well, a fabric that glistened and moved like water with the light. A black sash was tied around the obi, which drug behind her with the long kimono. Her sleeves were long as well, hiding her hands just barely. The red in her outfit brought out the painted lips, the only make up she had consented to wear. She was an absolute beauty, as many had pointed out to her proud father.

Kagome searched the room as she entered, for her brother or anyone that she could recognize. As if Kami had heard her silent plea, a small but strong looking had pushed it's way through two bodies in the crowd, followed by a young, but mature face that turned towards her and caught her stare. The boy looked 14, maybe older. The slowing of the aging process started at 16, so he could have been one hundred for all she knew. However for all she was unaware of, she did know one thing.

This boy was the spitting image of her brother.

She smiled at him broadly and beckoned him forward. Obedient, but confused, the boy that was trying to be a man came forward. His chest was puffed out irregularly, and he took stride too long for his legs to compensate. Finally, he gave up and walked like a normal boy, until he reached her and bowed.

"Hello," Kagome said to him, smiling.

"Hello," he replied quietly and Kagome almost drew back. He even sounded like her brother.

She turned to her father, who was scowling at her, as if the boy was not supposed to be given this attention.

"Karu," the large youkai barked.

"Yes, grandfather?" The boy seemed to cower slightly behind Kagome.

"Where is your father?"

"I'm right here, father," And suddenly Kagome was in the presence of her brother again, and she felt comfort and love and all that she had cherished with him. She could not help but smile when he came into view. But the sight of him caught her short. He was not grinning, and his eyes did not smile like they would have when they were both children. His posture was rigid and straight, and he held a firm line as a mouth. It was as if he had aged a great many years in only fifteen. He had been around fifty when she had left, but still looking and acting like a teenager, and now he was around 65, and already looking 20. She knew better than to think that he had aged prematurely. It was merely the way he carried himself, the way his face seemed immune to a smile, that made him seem old.

"Get that _child_," he made it seem like a horrible thing, "out of here. He does not belong at this gathering."

Karu was hurt by these words, and, afraid both his father and his grandfather, left with the man that had seemed to age so much.

"And Yoru," their father called to his son, who turned, a frown engraved on his face, "hurry." Yoru nodded, than left with his boy in tow. Kagome's father turned to her then, and smiled coldly. "And now, my daughter," she knew this did not promise to be good, "you shall meet your husband to be."

Her breath caught and a ball curled up inside her stomach, weighing it down uncomfortably. Bile rose in her throat and she could feel her blood pounding through her veins. It was the first time that entire night she had been nervous, despite her father's under-breath threats. A small round of clapping sounded as the crowd parted for who she assumed was her husband to be. His dress matched hers, and she knew it was not coincidence.

The youkai was tall and lean, with muscle intertwined with his bone, like it had all melded to become this man before her. He was at least two heads taller than her, reaching around 6"6'. Thick, chin short hair the color of ebony stone framed a gruesome mask of a face. His face was lean and long, with scars everywhere. There was an especially nasty one running along his left eyebrow, white and stark against his tan skin. He had clear, gray eyes with just a hint of blue in them, like the end of a stormy day. They consumed his face, making it difficult to look at anything but them, making him seem somehow beautiful.

However, Kagome was not fooled by the illusion. She had seen true beauty, and though this man had the eyes of a beautiful person, they lied, and his face betrayed his true nature. She suddenly thought of Sesshoumaru, and his golden eyes, and his beauty, his true gorgeousness, and want to turn from this monster. One look at her face told her that anything less than a smile would have her head.

So Kagome turned to the youkai and smiled a sedate but brilliant smile as they were introduced. "General Rushiki, meet Lady Kagome of the northern clan. Lady Kagome, meet your husband to be, Rushiki, general of the Northern Wolf Army," The great lord said proudly. General? She had not planned on him being a general. That meant he was of the highest fighting ability, and that she would not get overpower or out-think him easily. More planning had to be made.

Soon, kagome had shut down all her senses of what was happening, and was sitting in a corner of her mind, scheming, while her body walked about with her fiancé, smiling like all happy brides do, ignoring the occasional brush of his hand against her body, waiting for the moment she could be alone. Finally, the time came that she physically could not take anymore of his secret indulgences in her supple body, she very politely excused herself to freshen up.

And within minutes, she was gone from the palace, the home that had in a few short hours become prison. She did not leave anything for her family, not even a simple flower. She had not even spoken with her brother, nor had a chance to visit her mother's grave. She had not been able to visit her old companions. She had spirited herself away before anyone suspected her absence to be anything more than an obsession with herself.

By time General Rushiki reached Kagome's room, her kimono was lying on the floor, neglected, and the body it had so agreeably wrapped around was gone, now just another body in the crowd of youkai of the northern city.

Kagome was dressed like a man, with a thick black cloak over her head and shoulders, billowing behind her as she ran like a frightened thief. The common youkai payed no attention to her; she was one of many. She found a way around the guarded gate into the city, and escaped, undetected, from the northern wolf city. One obstacle down. A whole bunch more to go.

She didn't know where she was running, just that she was running away. Again.

Kagome hated herself for her cowardice, for her inability to stand and meet her problems face on. However, she knew she would hate herself even more if she stayed with that man, in that city, knowing that she had run from a man that she loved, and hadn't from a man she despised. If she had decided to live with that irony, it would have been more self abusing than what she was putting herself through at that moment.

So she kept running, kept trying to escape her feelings and her fear, trying to outrun the guilt and pain that plagued her.

Kagome traveled for three entire days at an exhausting pace, resting for mere minutes at a time before she was running again. Running for something she couldn't identify, but felt strongly pulled too. It wasn't until she blindly fell upon the gravestones that she recognized the familiar feelings that had grown stronger as she had gotten closer. As she collapsed upon the ground at the foot of one of the graves, she wept on the dirt, her blue eyes glistening with tears that had never been given a chance to fall.

For a split second, if one looked at the exact right time, they would not have seen a blue eyes demoness weeping for the dead, but a doe eyed human miko weeping for lost friends.

For hours, Kagome rested by the graves, her eyes slowly drying and her soul slowly draining all impurity into the soil. She talked to them as if they were all there, sitting around the fire like the shard hunting days. When she asked questions, she imagined the answers they would give her. She imagined Shippou slightly taller, with developing claws and a grin on his face. She could see Sango and Miroku holding hands, smiling at her while Kirara sat in her lap and napped away the afternoon.

She fell asleep still talking, and woke up a few hours later with a clear head. She needed to establish shelter for herself, and she needed to do it fast, in a place where she would not be easily found. However, she refused to leave the graves behind.

She stared at them, registering the faded words. Suddenly, a strong wind picked up, and a light tinkling caused her to turn and look at the two graves on her left. There, still in perfect condition, lay the hiraikotsu, almost beckoning her to it. Behind it was the monk's staff, laying almost touching it, having abandoned it's grave. It was almost as if it had moved deliberately to be beside Sango's weapon. Kagome smiled slowly and reached out to touch the hiraikotsu.

A sudden presence filled her, warming her to the body, comforting her. She closed her eyes And allowed the feeling to overwhelm her. She caught a scent of wild flowers and wind, and knew that it was Sango. Faintly, she whispered, "hello..."

A rush of memory flooded back to her, memories she had long ago shoved to the back of her mind to ease the pain of her loss. Memories of Sango and Miroku and Shippou, memories of Inuyasha. A dry sob escaped her throat, unaccompanied by tears. She fell silent and gazed at Miroku's golden staff and reached tentively for it, unsure of what would happen. As her fingers pressed against the cool metal, another presence filled her, this one more masculine, more...brutal in nature, though not unkind.

It was Miroku's free, unabashed spirit that filled her alongside Sango. Kagome Stared at Shippou's ribbon, and slowly, releasing the two weapons, allowing Sango and Miroku's spirit to slide from her body, she crawled to his tombstone and grasped the ribbon in her hands.

Nothing happened. No presence filled her, no warmth was offered from the piece of cloth. It was just a faded ribbon, a mere token of memory; nothing more, nothing less. Kagome let the disappointment show on her alabaster features, allowed her heart to fall, allowed a sigh to escape her lips. It seemed Shippou had moved on without her, and she knew that it was not out of carelessness for her. Even though this gave her comfort, she did not smile; she merely stared down at the frayed forget-me-not ribbon and sighed yet again. Then, she raised it and tied her hair back, high on the crown of her head, feeling the softness of the cloth gather in her hands.

Almost in a weary fashion, Kagome stared out across the field, the blood and bones of the battle washed away by torrential rains and scavenging animals. A new a cleansed place, a place to start over. Fate had not worked, and destiny did not seem to be working in her favor, either, so she would make her own past, present, and future.

Beside the field was a foreboding mountain, tell and bleak looking, with a great green forest climbing up it's face, the trees growing horizontally from it's surface at it's steepest points. It looked old, and cruel, and cold, and kagome grinned, and thought, _perfect. _

Quickly, she gathered her small amount of supplies, as well as the two weapons of her fallen friends, and began searching for a new home in the mountain that had witnessed the fight against Naraku, had witnessed the wrath of both sides, and had withstood all the power thrust out between them.

Okay, the beginning of her life on her own. I'm sorry this is like, I dunno, three months late, but life is so hectic,a nd I have been put into a slump as of late. But only one more day of school for me, so hopefully I will be able to focus on this story and writing more. Mucho amor, guys.


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